
Your lantern is your only protection. Something watches from the dark. Will you restore the balance… or unleash what waits below?
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
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About
Those Who Dwell is a slow-burn folk-horror descent where light is your only protection. 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.
Story-driven folk horror with psychological elements, inspired by folklore
Light is your lifeline so manage your torch, oil and candles to push back the dark.
Atmospheric tension, dread and discovery.
Environmental storytelling and interactable items that tell the story of those who came before and those who were here long before them.
3 different endings based on your choices and how you engage with what dwells below.
Average time to complete the game: 2~ hours
Face the darkness. Endure the isolation. And uncover the truth before you disappear too.
All content described on this page is included in the current version of the game.
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Polish
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 23 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
The game plays well, it's engaging and good fun. Would suggest picking this up.
I really enjoy the game. A new concept in horror games. Getting to explore a cave with an eerie atmosphere is refreshing for the genre. Not to mention the story that you discover during the exploration. The environment in the game looks wonderful and detailed spectacularly. A few concerns I had to the developer were addressed and fixed, which is a definite plus. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys psychological horror games.
I streamed this game and havent finished it yet but so far I am really enjoying it. It is quite unique within the horror genre but thats what I love the most about it. Grab it and play it today. Great job dev!
Unbearably dark visuals, piercingly irritating sound effects, problems with adjusting audio, and on top of that I got stuck behind objects.
The atmosphere and visuals are good, but the pacing drags in spots. Still worth playing if you enjoy slow-burn horrors
Spooky dark caves, for the price its a fair game, give a go
I haven’t managed to finish it yet, but I think I’m close. Even though I didn’t really feel a sense of looming threat, the setting is interesting and the atmosphere drew me into the narrative exploration. It’s a simple game, but if you enjoy first person walking simulators and mystery, it’s worth playing.
There's quite a number of bugs and the gameplay isn't really the best, basically an unpolished walking simulator to put it bluntly. The gameplay is just not fun and unscary, you walk around in the dark just constantly doing fetch quests; looking for some specific item to progress while getting constantly whispered to, which was mostly annoying and cliche. There was nothing to be scared of; no enemies to kill you or force you to hide. Maybe I just couldn't get far enough in the game (literally couldn't, door not opening). I like the setting though, reminds me of Penumbra Overture. I plead the devs to work on their horror/gameplay in future games, for I see some potential. Most major bugs I encountered were: no darkness in the part where you must build a bridge & not being able to use any keys at the door to the ladder, which blocked me from progressing in the game at all. I remain.
This was a really interesting game it took much longer than anticipated and i did spent about 20 minutes looking for a light source which was not apparent and I could already see a lantern icon. I have fed this back to the Dev who is implementing something so watch this space. I turned off the VHS and thankyou for the flashing lights off too. Would have been great to have a toggle crouch and run, something that maybe be seen in the future also. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold even if still a little hazy at the end as to what exactly had happened and not really fully understanding if what i was doing was having an impact or not and on whom or what, the game is more a walking sim where you need to protect yourself although there is light areas, those make no odds to those who dwell, I suppose they got used to that sort of light? I was left at the end of the game feeling a little like I missed something, did they try to stop something getting in or getting out and what exactly had they uncovered, what had i uncovered. I got ending 1/3. Overall an interesting game, and with a few small tweaks will be even better.
It's a great game for its price and for its unique VHS-style display. I liked the puzzles, they weren't too difficult once I figured them out :D. What makes it challenging is the constant sense of urgency because if you run out of fuel, you're done. I recommend it for those who (dwell :D) like short horror stories, and it's a lot better than other indie horror games that might cost more. I've played a few of those, and this is one of the top short indie horror games I personally enjoyed.
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Trends
Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
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