Sometimes you don’t connect with a game until you’ve gone hands-on, other times a particularly strong trailer will do the job, and occasionally a premise alone will get you through the front door. Static Dread, by developer Solar Suit Games, managed that last feat with me by way of the opening line on its Steam page: Lovecraft meets Papers, Please.
Following a catastrophic event that has all but rendered modern technology useless, a long-abandoned lighthouse has been reinstated to help guide ships to shore, and you’re the lucky soul hired to man the beacon. Given a few rations, a snazzy hat and a radio, you’re tasked with the general upkeep of the lighthouse and the fates of those looking to dock at nearby ports.
Manning the radio, transmissions come in from weary sailors and grizzled fishermen needing coordinates to their desired port location. Initially, the job is simple– accept their fax, plot their course, try to spark up conversation, and return the fax with the newly drawn coordinates. But the sea is endless, so is the night, and they both hunger for the dreams of man. Sorry, I slipped away there for a moment.
Aside from fending off exhaustion with a snack or two, the first night passed without much of a fuss, but it doesn’t stay that way for long. Soon, strangers begin showing up at the front door with odd requests and an insatiable desire to join you in the lighthouse, going against the express orders from your boss to not make this a social gathering. Calls over the radio become less routine and more unsettling, with sailors speaking of voices in the water and unexplained movement on the deck. Before long, lights in neighbouring rooms begin to dim, the lighthouse starts to malfunction, and the woods outside seem to become a popular location for late-night strolls.
The (relatively) simple job of guiding ships to shore is muddied now, with suspected drug runners in the area forcing you to interrogate cargo ship captains about their haul, deciding whether to send them to port or to a nearby coast guard based on their answers. Devolving further, a sickness falls over the city where you live, where your wife and child are waiting for you, making it vital that you investigate all cruise ships and send any infected vessels to an island laboratory where they’re either being treated or tested on. Important decisions mount quickly, one after another, made worse by an evil presence intercepting your radio and tempting you to commit evil acts in order to curb the dire situation.
The weight of these decisions is heavy, but it’s not your only concern. The darkness threatens to seep into the lighthouse, which makes keeping the lights on paramount. Fatigue also needs to be managed by consuming food and drink, all of which is either delivered by a courier every second day or purchased by a fisherman who visits at night. These essentials aren’t free of course, you’ll need to spend your wage to buy them, and that only comes via the courier, so you’ll need to ration your cash as well. All of these systems compound to create a stressful loop that never relents once it’s in full swing.
My preview took me through five excruciatingly tense nights, with the full game challenging you to endure 15. The story promises to branch in many directions depending on the choices you make, and during my two or so hours I spotted various diverging paths that could lead to strange and interesting outcomes. The dread in the name is thick thanks to the gameplay, but it’s made thicker thanks to the excellent, unsettling art style. Every asset is uneven and grainy, and the characters themselves are 2D static images that look like backdrops in a play. It’s eerie and I can’t wait to see more.
It’s great getting drawn in by a premise, and it’s even better when that premise is so well realised. Static Dread mixes in some element of Five Nights at Freddy’s with its clear Papers, Please influence, and it’s a combination that works. I’m not sure my blood pressure agrees, but I’m looking forward to the next ten nights at the lighthouse.
Previewed on PC (Steam Deck) // Preview code provided by the publisher
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