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Sinistous · Video game blueprint

Always Fear the Unknown

A 1v7 Asymmetrical Psychological Horror Experience

A 1v7 asymmetrical psychological horror experience from Sinistous. Dynamic fear profiling, cemetery vertical slice playable today, Steam Early Access target April 13, 2027. Separate from the Alignment card game.

Jacob Pendant · Lead DeveloperSteam Early Access — April 13, 2027Playable Win64 vertical slice · demo available on request

Publisher Pitch

Psychological multiplayer horror built for retention, streams, and scalable fear content.

What publishers are evaluating

  • •Playable Win64 cemetery vertical slice shipping today.
  • •Operational C++ profile engine with modular fear-event framework.
  • •Honest now vs Early Access split — 1v7 multiplayer is the 2027 target.
  • •Steam roadmap through Playtest, Next Fest, and April 13, 2027 EA launch.

The Market Problem

The Problem: Jumpscare Fatigue

The genre needs personalization, not more noise.

  • •Asymmetrical horror hits a ceiling when fear becomes predictable.
  • •Players learn static maps and repetitive objectives.
  • •Scares stop feeling personal — matches become routine.
  • •Retention drops once the “first-night terror” wears off.

The Solution

The Solution: Dynamic Psychological Profile Engine

Adaptive Psychological Engine

  • •Pre-match questionnaire ranks real-world fear triggers.
  • •Primary and secondary categories stored on the player’s session profile.
  • •Modular in-match fear events consume that data during the hunt.
  • •Terror that adapts to the player — not a fixed jumpscare playlist.
QuestionnaireProfileMatchFear Event / Sanity

Playable Today

Playable Today: Cemetery Vertical Slice

Win64 demo available · Same build we send to partners

  • •Spawn → collect skull keys → open gates → disable alarm.
  • •Flesh Weaver hunts while you solve the escape chain.
  • •Personal fear beat: timed reaction with sanity consequence.
  • •Clear win state: reach the exit portal.
  • •The loop: objective, threat, psychological beat, escape.
1Objective
2Threat
3Psychological beat
4Escape

Gameplay Loop

Core fantasy unchanged: survive the hunt or become the thing that hunts.

Vertical Slice (Now)

  • •Solo survivor vs Flesh Weaver
  • •Cemetery map — puzzle escape chain
  • •One live fear event + sanity system
  • •Win via exit portal

Early Access Target (2027)

  • •1 Slayer vs up to 7 Survivors
  • •Multiple maps & Slayer variants
  • •Full category event libraries
  • •Side quests & high-risk isolations

Psychological Profiling Engine

The Psychological Profiling Engine

  • •Atmospheric in-game questionnaire before matchmaking.
  • •Answers scored into five fear categories.
  • •Category scoring and primary/secondary ranking implemented in C++.
  • •Session profile passed into match framework.
  • •First live consumer: cemetery fear beat + sanity (demo).
CodeCategoryProfile use
SOCSocialJudgment, exposure, crowd anxiety — comms/visual tracking disruption, paranoia beats.
AGOAgoraphobiaOpen spaces, escape routes — confinement pressure, sightline restriction, isolation cues.
INJInjuryBodily harm, medical dread — body-horror stressors and wounding tension.
SEXSexual aggressionPredatory threat, vulnerability — handled within T-rated execution.
ANIHarmless animalsUncanny creature dread — demo includes first ANI-style QTE path.

Adaptive Sanity Events

Adaptive Sanity Events — EA Vision

In development · Modular pipeline live

  • •As sanity decays mid-match, profile-weighted events escalate.
  • •Agoraphobia → confinement pressure, sightline restriction, isolation cues.
  • •Social → comms/visual tracking disruption, paranoia beats.
  • •Injury → body-horror stressors and wounding tension.
  • •Sexual aggression → predatory pursuit framing (T-rated execution).
  • •Harmless animals → uncanny animal dread beats.
  • •Modular event system allows rapid content expansion post-funding.

Creatures & Art

Sinistous Studios shirt designs — visual identity for the hunt, dread, and EA roster vision.

The FleshWeaver creature art from Sinistous Studios apparelDemo Slayer

Cemetery Slayer · Vertical slice hunt threat

The FleshWeaver

The grotesque hunter of the playable cemetery demo. Pursues survivors through the skull-key escape chain while the psychological engine delivers personalized fear beats.

Shop Sinistous shirt →
Always Fear the Temptress creature art from Sinistous Studios apparel

Sinistous creature art · EA roster vision

Always Fear the Temptress

Predatory horror identity from the AFTU mythos — emblematic of the psychological pressure and uncanny dread the profiling engine is built to deliver.

Shop Sinistous shirt →
The Leech Monster creature art from Sinistous Studios apparel

Sinistous creature art · EA roster vision

The Leech Monster

Body-horror tension made visual — the kind of injury-category dread that scales through the modular sanity event pipeline at Early Access.

Shop Sinistous shirt →

Production Roadmap

Target: Steam Early Access — April 13, 2027

Q3 2026

  • •Publisher outreach & playable demo
  • •Steam Coming Soon / wishlist phase
  • •Core engine & demo polish

Q4 2026

  • •Steam Playtest (closed alpha)
  • •Expand UE development capacity
  • •Category event content pass #1

Q1 2027

  • •Steam Next Fest — public 1-map demo (subject to Valve schedule)
  • •Trailer & creator outreach

April 13, 2027

  • •Steam Early Access launch

Audience & Positioning

Target Audience & Marketing

  • •Dead by Daylight · Phasmophobia · Lethal Company audiences.
  • •Psychological & asymmetrical survival horror on PC.
  • •Pre-match profile = natural “react to my results” stream moment.
  • •Personalized scares = unique clips per player — not spoiled by one YouTube video.
  • •1v7 tension = high viewer engagement in chase & betrayal beats.
  • •Channels: Steam wishlists · Twitch/YouTube · Discord community · Next Fest.

Dead by Daylight

Genre leader; static perk/meta loop.

Phasmophobia

Co-op fear; not asym 1vMany personalization.

Lethal Company

Session chaos; not profile-driven dread.

AFTU

Pre-match psychological profile → modular in-match fear + 1v7 hunt.

Tech Stack

  • •Unreal Engine 5.8 · C++ gameplay systems
  • •Steam · OnlineSubsystemSteam
  • •Profile & fear: FPlayerFearProfile, session components, modular QTE/events
  • •Demo map: Cemetry1 · Game mode: BP_GameCore_GM (HorrorGameCore C++)

Follow development

Demo requests, streams, merch, and creator updates live on the Sinistous hub. The cemetery vertical slice is the proof — the profile engine is the product.

Creator hub →YouTube →Twitch →