The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a narrative mystery game about Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter saying he is in danger. It turns out that Ethan vanished in the wake of a brutal murder. You explore to discover what happened, communicating with the dead to reconstruct what happened.

It's an unusual and macabre game inspired by early twentieth century weird fiction. It creates a realistic world but with supernatural elements. As you delve into the mystery you need to solve mental challenges, but the focus is on atmosphere, mood, and the characters you meet both living and dead.

As you progress you use your supernatural skill of being able to communicate with the dead to piece together clues. This enables you to discover the mystery behind a trail of corpses, the roots of a dark ancient force lurking in Red Creek Valley, and the fate of a missing boy.

You can conduct the investigation on your own terms and at your own pace. Although there are a few scary bits in the game, it's more clammy unease than terror.