Mundaun, a hand-pencilled tale of horror in the Swiss Alps, is coming in March

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The first three months of 2021 might be a quiet stretch, but there are some interesting things happening. One of them will hopefully be Mundaun, a "hand-pencilled horror tale" announced last summer that one-man studio Hidden Fields announced today will be out on March 16.

Mundaun is a survival-horror game inspired by the culture and folklore of the Swiss Alps, about a young man named Curdin who travels to the town of Mundaun following the death of his grandfather. He finds more than he bargained for: The town's residents are haunted by a malevolent spirit, and many of them are eager to keep Curdin from learning too much about their dark secrets.

The game will feature a "cause-and-effect" fear system that "disorients players when facing dangerous situations," which sounds not terribly different from the mechanics in games like Amnesia or Soma. The announcement trailer released last summer certainly has a Frictional Games vibe to it, but what makes Mundaun stand out for me (and gives it a hint of Rusty Lake, which is never a bad thing) is that the textures are entirely pencilled by hand, creating an unusual sort of hazy grayscale visual aesthetic. I don't know if that will enhance the horror, but it definitely heightens the mood—I feel like there could be some real "Why'd ya spill yer beans?" going on here.

With the release date announced, Mundaun creator Michel Ziegler will reveal more about the game during a Q&A session that will take place tomorrow, January 13, on Discord. Ahead of that, you can learn more on Steam or at mundaungame.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.