Halloween has a new addition for horror fans: Playable Archive, a free "micro psychological horror experience" from Darkstone Digital, the solo studio behind The Mortuary Assistant. The game is now available on Steam.
Drawing comparisons to P.T., the playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills game, Playable Archive unfolds primarily within a single, dilapidated home. The experience begins subtly, escalating rapidly as players uncover unsettling discoveries that lead to deteriorating circumstances. A significant mid-game twist aims to disorient players, propelling the narrative into darker territory.
Brian Clarke, the owner of Darkstone Digital, described the release as a form of personal healing. "After working for so long on something I cared so much about, it felt wrong to leave it sitting on the shelf like some cursed item," Clarke stated. "Although the full-scale game this demo was built for will never see the light of day and many pieces of it had to be left on the cutting room floor, I feel like it’s important to honor what was built. Immortalizing the project's memory with Playable Archive is my way of doing that while offering something new from me for horror fans this Halloween as I get to work on new projects."
Clarke confirmed that the project from which Playable Archive originated will not be revived. "I loved the project, but I spent such time and effort on it that it would simply be too much to try to toil away on it again for who knows how long," he explained. "I have no desire to revisit it at this point other than for inspiration. From the very beginning it was designed with Paranormal Activity in mind, so I'd rather spend my efforts creating something new than trying to force something new from an existing project."
Hunter Bond, director of publisher DreadXP, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing their support for Clarke's decision to cancel the original project. "Brian was still haunted by the game he worked on for years not being publicly playable in any form," Bond said. "We feel good about the choice we made to support Brian and cancel it when he wasn't going to be given enough time to get it to the level it deserved. Instead I'm excited to see what he works on next now that he can have some closure with this."
Playable Archive is estimated to take 30-60 minutes to complete and does not feature a save function. This brief runtime is suitable for its "micro" scope, allowing players to experience its narrative in a single sitting. The game is available now on Steam and is free to download.