Lovecraftian Horror in an Indie Package
In Static Dread: The Lighthouse, step into the (most likely wet) shoes of a typical Lovecraftian protagonist. In this game by developer solarsuit.games, and publisher Polden Publishing, an inexplicable phenomenon has swept the world; “The Aurora” fills the sky with light, bringing about all sorts of strange changes to the world around you. Moreover, modern ship-guiding technology has ceased to function with this sudden event.
That’s where you, The Keeper, come in. Take control of the old lighthouse, the only possible hope for guiding ships through the rough waters.
The premise is simple enough. Manage your lighthouse, and make sure you guide ships along a safe path to their correct destination. That’s where the “simple” part ends, however.
It wouldn’t be an eldritch nightmare without horrors beyond your comprehension, now would it? Creepy children, crazed villagers worshipping an old god, darkness itself, and of course, the mafia. These are only some of the threats your lighthouse—or rather, you—face.
Familiar Gameplay
The game itself (or at least the part where you guide ships) functions very similarly to the infamous Papers, Please. You’ll be sent information about each ship, where they need to go, where to avoid, etc. And of course, as time progresses, it will become much more complicated.
While you’re completing these tasks, however, you’ll have to manage many other things as well. Your energy and sanity, for one. Falling asleep on the job is dangerous enough as a normal lighthouse keeper. But here? The consequences could be much more severe.
Of course, you’ll also have to keep your lighthouse in shape. Fixing the generator, ensuring the light itself keeps spinning, and so on and so forth. Now whether it was monsters or just simple malfunctions messing with you throughout the night… That's for you to find out.
The most important thing you’ll have to manage, however, is your relationships. The game itself is heavily reading and dialogue focused, so paying attention is key to making the right decisions.
Throughout the game, you unlock the ability to gain perks. One for energy, sanity, and speed. They keep you awake longer, keep you sane longer, and let you run faster, in that order. The method of getting them could use a bit of explaining, though, because while it’s simple enough, it doesn’t get a good enough explanation at the beginning. You have to fill a meter with food and drinks before you start your night to actually activate the perk.
The exploration is fairly simple. You can walk around the lighthouse, and interaction is as easy as clicking items and pressing buttons. Entering rooms (usually) turns into a point-and-click, and you’ll occasionally be tasked with quick time events for certain tasks. Overall, the gameplay mixes with the story very well.
As for the horror itself, it doesn’t rely on jumpscares to get its scares in. In fact, it more so relies on that sense of dread you feel when things around you show you made a bad decision… or the dread you feel when tentacles start grabbing at you from the ceiling. That's pretty scary too for most people.
Oh, and it has fishing. Like any good game should have, and I STAND by that statement. Though on a serious note, the fishing mechanics are sadly very rudimentary and felt like a bit of a drag just to get a couple extra pieces of food. Granted, it's not a fishing game, but it could use something extra to make it more engaging.
Ever-Changing Story
To put it simply, Static Dread: The Lighthouse is a Lovecraftian story done well. You’ve got Cthulhu, cultists, fish people, the whole nine yards. That’s not to say it's bad that they borrowed so much from old Lovecraftian tales, quite the opposite actually. It adapts the elements from those stories extraordinarily well and does a great job at getting you immersed in a world you can barely see. You’re stuck at your little old lighthouse, but that doesn’t mean the world around you isn’t changing every day… And this game makes sure you know that very well.
You can feel how your choices impact the world, or just how little an impact you may have. Choices matter, but if it’s too late to make things right, the game makes sure you know that just because you did the right thing now doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been much better had you done it sooner.
The art really lends itself to the story well, showing the transformations of the world… or at least what you can see from your post. You’ll see directly how your changes affect the people around you too. The changes could be simple or very… drastic.
While the art is incredible, the animation can be a bit lackluster at times. Certain events in cutscenes that should be huge, dramatic reveals can end up feeling a bit meek. However, while they’re worth noting, these moments are few and far between.
And the soundtrack is exactly what you’d expect to hear in an Eldritch nightmare scenario. Deep choir, instruments straight from a ship at sea, and a pretty gnarly guitar when it’s clear your navigation skills are the only thing saving a poor sailor from certain death.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing through this. Static Dread: The Lighthouse is a great pick for fans of the horror genre and needs SERIOUS consideration from my fellow Lovecraft nerds out there. A great story, eight different endings, and plenty of choices to make give plenty of replayability to the title… as long as you skip out on the fishing for your next playthrough.
Priced at $12.99 on Steam, it’s definitely an experience worth checking out. If you can’t quite decide, however, it has a playable demo you can check out to see if it’s the right kind of game for you.
