This creepy, retro horror adventure is threatening to make me live out my old creepypasta nightmares with a cursed game within a game

FGS
(Image credit: Future)

Retro horror adventure Tormenture is threatening to make us all live out those classic 'cursed game' creepypasta stories in real life, and I can already tell it's going to haunt my dreams.

When I was younger, I used to be terrified of creepypastas like Sonic.exe which featured cursed games that could haunt the people playing them, so seeing a real-life game that'll give us that exact experience is honestly very spooky, but also morbidly intriguing. Tormenture, which is being developed by Croxel Studios, will take us back to the 1980s, where we'll play as a young boy in his bedroom, embarking on one of the first adventure games ever made. 

The game he's playing is called, you guessed it, Tormenture, and unfortunately for him, it has a horrifying twist. As he plays, the game and reality begin blending together, with threats breaking straight out of the screen and lurking in the shadows as you play. Within the game, that is (I hope).

Tormenture was first revealed a few months ago, and made an appearance in the Future Games Show at Gamescom Presented by Sid Meier's Civilization® VI. It's certainly looking like one of the most unique upcoming horror games in the works right now. Not only will we have to navigate the retro labyrinth at the heart of the 'original' Tormenture, but there'll be puzzles to complete, and big decisions to make which will influence the ending of the game. According to its Steam page, these decisions will "make the difference between glory and being trapped in eternal torment," so, you know, no pressure. 

At the time of writing, Tormenture doesn't have a release date, but there's a demo that you can try on Steam right now, if you're feeling brave enough.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.