This free, PS1-style Twin Peaks demake absolutely nails the dreamy vibes of the show

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What year is this?

Agent Cooper stands in the Black Lodge.
(Image credit: Blue Rose Team)

Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see, one chants out between two worlds: Twin Peaks is on PC. Not officially, mind you; I'm talking about the demo for Twin Peaks: Into the Night, a fan game based on the classic David Lynch and Mark Frost soap opera that's just hit Itch.io.

The demo is free, and you can download and play it right now if you've got a spare 500 megs on your hard drive. It's done in that swimmy, lo-fi PS1 style that's all the rage nowadays, which actually ends up working very well to capture the off-kilter, dreamy, something-is-seriously-wrong-but-I-can't-say-what vibes of the original TV series.

(Image credit: Blue Rose Team)

"Created as an homage to good old '90s games classic [sic]," reads the Itch description, "Twin Peaks: Into the Night is a fan game adaptation of the eponymous series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch." The demo is meant to serve as "a taste of a new gameplay experience that will immerse you directly into the unique atmosphere of the show." And you know what? I think it does a pretty good job.

The demo is a labour of love created by Blue Rose Team, which—so far as I can tell from the Itch page—consists of literally two people, and it's a remarkably faithful recreation of the original series (or at least its opening scenes) from what I've seen in my short time with it. 

You've got Cooper's arrival into town, complete with dialogue options as you natter at Diane via his tape recorder, the chance to approach random inhabitants of Twin Peaks and see how they feel about Laura Palmer's death (bad, as it turns out), and even some very light puzzle elements as you conduct a cursory examination of the murdered homecoming queen's body. Plus, it has tank controls, which is only proper for a game from the series that inspired Deadly Premonition. 

(Image credit: Blue Rose Team)

It's good fun, in short, and obviously comes from a place of deep affection for the original show. I don't know that Blue Rose Team will ever manage to produce a full game, at least not with only two devs, but it's great to see Twin Peaks get some love. Despite being a major influence on all sorts of games, the series has never really made the leap into videogames, underwhelming VR experiences aside. If the only way I'll get to directly experience a slice of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee is via indie game demos on Itch, well, I'm happy to take it any way I can get it. 

(Image credit: Blue Rose Team)
Joshua Wolens
Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.