I’ve always been fascinated by horror games, as they provide the opportunity to experience some truly terrifying scenarios without any real-life consequences. However, this usually puts horror games in a tricky position. If they fail to evoke any emotions, then they will instantly flop with audiences. With so many great horror games out there, future titles must find new, innovative ways to deliver fiendish experiences we’ve never seen before. In some aspects, Static Dread: The Lighthouse feels very similar to other games out there, as it uses Cthulhu mythology as a central piece of its storytelling. However, the way it forces you into bleak moral dilemmas, where you’re constantly second-guessing if you’ve made the right decision, creates a truly unforgettable experience.
Your Journey Begins At The Ominous Lighthouse
The story takes place after a global catastrophe, where a mysterious aura has filled the skies. In the aftermath of these events, the harbour officials have restored the ancient lighthouse and assigned you the role of the new lighthouse keeper. Separated from your beloved family, you begin your duties of safely navigating ships into different ports through radio transmissions. Sounds reasonable enough for a paycheck, right? But it doesn’t take long for you to notice that the local villagers are acting oddly around you and that supernatural forces are lurking over the lighthouse.
I’ve always found lighthouses to be very majestic, but at the same time, somewhat ominous, so this felt like the perfect setting for a horror title. Throughout the entire game, there is also this unnerving feeling that someone is watching you, which helps induce this claustrophobic sensation that you would get from being in one in real life. The design of the building further reinforces this, such as the slanted rooms or the narrow, spiralling staircase leading to the top of the lighthouse. The only drawback is that the graphics are very basic, but they unironically help create a rustic vibe that fits the tone of the atmosphere, like stepping on a floorboard and hearing an eerie creak.
Moral Dilemmas That Will Make You Question Which Action To Take
The entire shift feels like one big juggling act, as there are quite a few things you will need to do, but let’s start with the essentials. When you begin each day, you will have the opportunity to explore the lighthouse and prepare for the upcoming shift, such as turning on the lights, buying supplies from villagers, or catching up on world events from the chief through the radio transmitter. When you are satisfied with your setup, you can then activate the lighthouse, officially marking the start of your graveyard shift. Throughout the night, you will need to monitor the radio and tune into various transmissions to search for signals requesting navigation assistance. Once you receive a distress signal from a vessel, you will be sent basic information about the boat to help direct its route on the map.
This is where things get interesting, as you can choose the vessel’s destination. At the beginning of each night, you are given a list of “rules” by the chief. Every time you successfully send a ship to the correct location, you will be rewarded with a bonus. These requirements typically relate to the narrative, such as directing cultists or military personnel to specific locations. However, you can choose to ignore them entirely and send the boat to another area. Sometimes, other entities will even approach you and attempt to incentivise you to go in a completely different direction. Will you follow the bureaucratic hand of authority or decide it’s in your best interest to go the other way?
It’s very reminiscent of Papers, Please, with the moral dilemmas that arise, as it’s not necessarily clear-cut what action is the right one. Perhaps this says something about my character as a whole, but I was often torn about what decisions to make. It’s also pretty hard to predict where the story is going at times, which makes some of these choices even harder. Should you send a cargo ship of drugs to the location of your poor daughter, or send them to their intended location, where they will potentially help thousands of innocent people?
However, if you thought existential decisions on where to send ships were the only thing you had to worry about, think again, as keeping your sanity intact will also play a significant role. If you don’t prioritise your personal needs throughout the night, then the darkness in the lighthouse will spiral out of control, and the shadowy Cthulhu apparitions will unmercifully swallow you up.
When your sanity is dwindling, the supernatural elements will also intensify, causing rooms to darken, picture frames to fall, and the radio to malfunction, which you will have to manually fix by rebooting the whole lighthouse! There will even be dark, oozing pools of corrosive liquid that will engulf the rooms, which you will want to avoid, as they will further impact your mental state. None of these shenanigans or images is out-and-out scary, but you can feel the deterioration of yourself directly reflected in the lighthouse.
The best way to avoid this is to eat foods and drinks that will restore your vision, mental state, and energy levels. When I first started playing Static Dread: The Lighthouse, I didn’t appreciate the resource management as much as I should have, and I carelessly ate much stronger items, which made some of the later days far more difficult. When you’re not so familiar with the mechanics, it’s easy to get caught out. I quite liked the resource management system here, as it added another layer of tacticalness to the gameplay. If it had just been the ship navigation, I don’t think the game would have been half as challenging as it was.
Knock, Knock. Another Visitor Is At The Door
Another recurring theme throughout the night is that many unwanted visitors will knock on your door and will express their desire to stay at the lighthouse. Strictly speaking, you are not allowed any visitors of any kind to enter the premises. Do you operate a no-cold-calling policy, slamming the door shut on them, or do you let them in and hope for the best? This situation somewhat reminded me of the moral dilemma presented in Beauty and the Beast, where a visitor seeks shelter and is turned away, leading to consequences later down the line. It was a clever way of incorporating even more moral dilemmas into the game, which induces a further feeling of distrust and paranoia. Without giving too much away, some visitors will also provide you with access to certain rooms in the lighthouse, so it’s important to make the right calls.
My biggest criticism of Static Dread: The Lighthouse is that I didn’t feel super connected to any of the characters I encountered. This made some of the moral dilemmas I faced less daunting, as I didn’t particularly care about their fates. If we had spent a bit more time with certain characters, I think it could have dramatically changed my feelings about them. This is a shame, as there is definitely a lot of thought behind each character, as they all have very distinct traits and designs.
The entirety of the game takes place across fifteen days, with each day that passes becoming progressively harder. I would say the first seven days are relatively simple, but after that, the difficulty really starts ramping up. I don’t mind admitting that I had to replay the tenth day several times, as it involves you performing a specific chain of actions. If you don’t complete them within a short timeframe, the darkness will consume you regardless of your sanity levels, which will end your run. It’s a significant difficulty spike that will probably surprise most people. It gets so hard, in fact, that I wouldn’t be shocked if some players start over from the beginning and manage resources differently, as it will give them just that little extra time to perform the actions.
Static Dread: The Lighthouse is one of those games where the less you know about the premise, the more you’ll get out of the experience. And it’s the main reason I’ve been intentionally vague at times in this review, as I wanted to avoid spoiling the story here—it’s undoubtedly the best aspect of the experience. If you’re looking for a horror game with traditional jump scares, then Static Dread: The Lighthouse won’t scratch that itch. There are no ifs or buts about that. But, if you’re open to an experience that delves more into the psychological elements, which tells a fascinating story in an apocalyptic setting, then it might just become your next favourite indie horror title.
Disclaimer: Polden Publishing provided a PC (Steam) Static Dread: The Lighthouse for review purposes.
