Gloomwood

Gloomwood (2022) is a stealth-survival horror game where you must escape a haunted, neo-Victorian city trapped by an ancient curse. Play involves carefully equipping yourself to explore the interconnected dark streets where shadow or sound can give your presence away. It leverages this detection simulation for both challenge and atmosphere as ever more disturbing horrors stand in the way of the next checkpoint.

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You are trapped in a cursed Victorian metropolis and must navigate the haunted streets, tunnels, and mansions with cunning rather than brute force. Although you have weapons to help you, it's the novel stealth system, triggered by both visibility and noise, that is the main barrier. In this way, you tiptoe around the world eavesdropping, observing and making strategic distractions to give you the upper hand.

As you explore the fishery, mines, lighthouse, taverns and markets of the interlinked map, you unlock hidden paths and shortcuts with keys and puzzle solving. You can improve your gear as you go, but you must store it in the limited space of your grid‑based attaché case.

The result is an atmospheric immersive sim inspired by games like Thief. It updates the experience with its shadow‑based stealth and realistic inventory. Still, it's the cleverly designed world and balanced checkpointing that make this more than a nostalgic pleasure.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Gloomwood 3 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 3 months ago.