Today, developer Panstasz and Ysbryd Games have announced that their title WORLD OF HORROR will be released on Steam's Early Access on February 20, 2020, with a full release in late 2020.
World of Horror invites players to solve a mystery as to why the residents of a Japanese town have begun spiralling toward madness. To discover the truth, Eldritch monsters are to be investigated and puzzles are to be solved in order to collect arcane spell components. Legends such as Aka Manto and Kuchisake-onna, summoned by performing dark rites, will also appear in the game.
Players will have to fight to survive in a nightmarish reality via turn-based roguelite combat. There will be five playable characters to choose from in the Early Access, with each character having their own stats and unique perspective on what is happening to them and their surroundings. Their surroundings will be detailed and animated within Microsoft Paint for a 'classic' 1-bit style.
There will be 10 mysteries with procedurally generated events to investigate, with chance encounters with the unknown lowering the player's stamina and sanity. Players will be able to unlock new events and achievements as they progress through the game, which is inspired by the works of Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft.
While the development is a 1-man show, Cassandra Khaw, a script writer at Ubisoft and the author of the novel Hammers on Bone, as well as on the writing team for games such as Wasteland 3, Sunless Skies, and She Remembered Caterpillars, will be collaborating with Panstasz.
“Working with Cassandra has been a treat. She’s helped me tune up paragraph upon paragraph of chilling storytelling perfect for cosmic horror,” said Pawel Kozminski aka panstasz, the solo developer behind WORLD OF HORROR. “Her background and insight into horrific mindsets has helped me flesh out the unsettling nature of the mysteries, characters, and items you’ll find in WORLD OF HORROR.”
WORLD OF HORROR will be released on February 20, 2020 on Steam's Early Access for $14.99, with a full release later this year.
What do you think of this announcement? Do you like the idea of a 1-bit title? Let us know in the comments!
