Hi everyone,
Late last year I released Those Who Dwell, a psychological folk horror game built in Unreal Engine 5.
This is my first fully released horror title as a solo developer under Midnight Forge
About the Game
It’s a cave descent horror game where your lantern is your only way to survive. Explore a cursed underground excavation, restore ancient shrines, and manage your fading lantern as something watches from the dark. Survival depends on exploration and ritual choices, not combat.
It’s focused heavily on:
- Atmosphere instead of combat or jumpscares
- Environmental storytelling
- Dynamic light-based threat scaling
- Psychological tension
Built With
- Unreal Engine 5 (Blueprint-only)
- Lumen lighting
- Light-reactive AI state system
- Dynamic flicker & visibility logic
- Cave-heavy environments with some Nanite + manual optimisation passes
The core design revolves around tension through light management with enemies react directly to player light levels, affecting visibility, movement behaviour, and chase intensity.
Most of the work went into atmosphere, pacing, and making Lumen perform in tight, vertical cave spaces.
Trailer: Those Who Dwell | Folk Horror Indie Game | Official Trailer
Steam: Those Who Dwell
Would love to hear any thoughts.