A horror visual novel about coming back to your childhood home.
Revenue comes from in-game items and microtransactions, which our price-based model doesn't estimate. Copies below reflect the player base, not paid sales.
Media
About
You didn't want to go home ever again.
You're Taylor. Your dad died suddenly a few weeks ago. It looks like he left you the family house.
Really though, you swore you'd never come back here. Nothing specific bad ever happened, but the place makes you feel sick to your stomach. Like you're some how allergic.
You know it's up to you to at least clean the place out. Your dad and stepmom had been divorced for years, and you've never been close with your half sister, Paige.
Fortunately, you get to do this alone, at your own pace.
But are you really the only one in the house?
As you start the process though, that same feeling from your childhood is still there. But there's more... a presence, maybe? It shifts from terrifying to comforting. And it all seems to circle around the basement that your dad never let you enter.
You need to find out what's down there. You need to understand what is in the house with you. And you need to open this lockbox that your dad left behind.
24k+ words
1-2 hours of gameplay
a combination lock puzzle
7 distinct endings depending on player choice
snow globe
music room for tracks that unlocks after beating the game once
a mini-crossword that unlocks after each ending (3 5x5 crosswords, 1 6x6 crossword, 3 7x7 crosswords)
Genres
Stats
Languages: English*, Spanish - Latin America**languages with full audio support
Engagement
Reviews
In The Foundations is a haunting psychological horror visual novel that turns the simple act of returning home into a descent into generational trauma. You play as Taylor a young adult forced to return to your childhood home after the sudden death of your father. What starts as a mundane task of clearing out an old house quickly spirals into an unsettling mystery centered around the one place you were never allowed to enter as a child the basement. The narrative is the strongest pillar of the experience. It manages to balance a heavy sense of grief with an mounting dread that feels both intimate and supernatural. I was particularly struck by the writing which treats family loss with a raw honesty while simultaneously peppering the environment with subtle clues about your fathers secret life. The game features seven distinct endings and your choices throughout the two hour story feel heavy and permanent. One wrong move or a lack of curiosity can lead to a radically different outcome for Taylor and her estranged half sister Paige. The visual style uses a minimalist pixel art aesthetic that works surprisingly well for horror. By not showing every detail the game forces your imagination to fill in the gaps in the dark corners of the house. The atmosphere is thick and oppressive aided by a sound design that makes every creak of the floorboards feel like a warning. I found the inclusion of small puzzles like a combination lock and even post game crosswords to be a nice touch that broke up the reading without distracting from the tension. What makes this game linger in your mind is its exploration of duty and debt. It asks uncomfortable questions about what we owe to the people who raised us and what kind of darkness can hide beneath the foundations of a seemingly normal family home. It is a brief but deeply impactful journey into the heart of a broken lineage. 9/10. It is a masterclass in atmospheric storytelling. For fans of psychological horror who prefer narrative depth over jump scares this is a mandatory experience that proves the scariest things are often the ones we try to leave behind. Unlock the basement find the truth and try to survive the weight of your own history.
Related
Related
Trends
Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Hours played at review time, across 38 reviews with recorded playtime.
honestly underrated game. i love the unique pixelated style and the colors really makes you feel a strong sense of anemoia. ive only gotten one ending (at the time of making this review), but im excited to get more endings and unlock more achievements in the future !!!
Just as a disclaimer, beepsoft has been a near lifelong friend and seeing the work they've put out in recent years has been incredible, so this may come off a little biased at points. I am not much of a visual novel reader although I've been getting a bit more into them in recent years. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed In The Foundations from front to back. What the dev has accomplished here is excellent for the small amount of time it was in development and there's a lot to digest without getting into any sort of spoilers. The type of existential dread that's delved into feels completely relatable with just enough of a horror and mystery tinge to feel interesting and worth seeing each of the outcomes. Much how we all have moments we don't like to reflect on, places we don't want to be or feel we don't belong at, In The Foundations feels like staring deeply into every inch of that. Whether it's in defiance, or acceptance, or whatever feeling the game gives to those playing it, I can't recommend it enough if you've got a few hours to spare.
No vine con altas expectativas de una novela visual gratuita y me fui completamente dado vuelta. Para empezar esta bien escrita, algo que se nota porque atrae leerla, engancha, la historia esta buena también, lo suficiente para que buscara sacarle todos los finales y develar todos los detalles de la misma. Su punto mas flojo posiblemente sea los gráficos, no porque queden mal sino porque son poco llamativos. La recomiendo mucho mucho, aparte de estar gratis, también esta en español y muy bien traducida encima, me recordó a las de LCB.
Really enjoyed the story, and the way it unfolds! The bonus puzzles were fun, too. I ended up eating honey butter for days after playing
This game is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ underrated it honestly pisses me off i turned it on once and didnt turn it off untill ive completed all of the endings, the story is absolutely amazing and i love the artstyle. 10/10
👍
Es un juego muy bonito.
Slow burn horror.
Норм
Momentum
Pace estimated from the game's recent review growth (our daily snapshots) at its own sales-per-review ratio — a momentum signal, not booked sales.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
Related
| House Flipper | $65.8M | 110.8K | 94% | $24.99 |
| Rhythm Doctor | $13.9M | 26.7K | 98% | $19.99 |
| Brotato | $7.4M | 116.8K | 96% | $2.99 |
| The Spell Brigade | $4.7M | 16.2K | 81% | $12.99 |
| Tourist Bus Simulator | $3.3M | 3.5K | 66% | $29.99 |
| BMX Streets | $3.3M | 4.3K | 80% | $24.99 |