Demo leads the way to upcoming Silence Channel

Written by Jack Allin — October 22, 2020 at 10:23

October is the scary season, and though we'll have to wait a few months longer for the full version of Lexip Games' upcoming horror adventure Silence Channel, you can treat yourself to a small early taste through the newly released demo. 

Players control John Martin, an investigative reporter who visits a remote village to "check out rumors of unexplainable sightings" in 1996. Believing the stories to be "nothing more than local folklore and myth," you approach an abandoned cottage early one foggy morning with the intention of merely "taking a few photos" to supplement your article about this "local piece of gossip." Once you cross that threshold, however, you find that there's much more to this mysterious structure than you ever could have imagined. What's worse is that "you are not alone, and it is only a matter of time before your luck runs out."

Like Dark Room, the indie developer's previous release, Silence Channel is a first-person adventure, but this game forsakes its predecessor's slideshow-style control scheme for a full free-roaming 3D environment. As players explore "strange and dark environments" and experience some "terrifying surprises," they'll also find items to collect and combine, as well as "clues to decipher, doors to unlock, puzzles to solve and mysteries to explain." Scattered letters and other writings reveal the tragic backstory of this haunted place, while its walls "contain strange messages and riddles of importance." Fortunately you keep a "handy logbook" to keep track of what you've discovered along the way. You're going to need it if you hope to ever get out again alive.

There is no firm release date scheduled yet for Silence Channel, but the game is due to launch for Windows PC sometime early next year. In the meantime, the demo can be download now from Steam, itch.io and Game Jolt.