New VHS horror game with cursed tapes and twisted worlds announced for 2025 Steam release
Indie games have been stirring up the gaming scene lately, more so recently than ever. Titles like Iron Lung, Signalis, and Fear and Hunger 2 have captured a staggering amount of player attention and critical acclaim - often outperforming big-budget AAA horror games in terms of atmosphere, originality, and sheer community buzz. And it’s not just nostalgia; it’s a shift in how players connect with horror through more focused, creative design that often represent the developer's passion projects.
A new, somewhat similar entry in the indie horror scene has just been revealed, and this one taps into analog-era cinema. Video Ghastlies, developed by solo Scottish developer KatanaLevy and published by Oro Interactive, was officially announced today (on April 17) as an upcoming survival horror title heading to Steam later this year.
At its core, Video Ghastlies is a game about stepping through cursed VHS tapes that transport you into horrifying cinematic universes. Each of these worlds is thematically tied to a different era of horror cinema, ranging from grainy 1930s gothic tales to gruesome Italian slashers and found-footage-inspired nightmares. The player’s main safe zone is their apartment, which serves as a base of operations where they piece together clues and plan their next descent into each tape’s world.
From the press release, Video Ghastlies appears to be a mix of puzzle-solving, scavenging, and survival horror. Each tape-based world comes with its own enemy types, weapons, and environment-specific threats, such as mutant rats or malformed humanoids. From the screenshots shared alongside the reveal, the game appears to use a mix of retro-styled visual filters, low-fi VHS distortion, and richly detailed 3D environments to pull off an eerie aesthetic. The use of CRT TVs and old horror movie packaging as in-game mechanics looks pretty cool as well.
The developer, KatanaLevy, is no stranger to darker themes, having previously worked on titles like Cardiac and Daemonologie. This time, however, the setting leans more cinematic, focusing on horror history and media culture. Oro Interactive has previously published the multiplayer hit Murky Divers, and now, the studio is seemingly taking a more narrative-heavy direction with this collab.
The game is expected to release in late 2025. Players can wishlist Video Ghastlies on Steam to stay updated as more gameplay details and trailers surface in the coming months. You can check out the game trailer and some screenshots below.
Source(s)
Oro Interactive (via press release)
