First impressions of Tuned In: A horror game you won't be able to take your eyes off

When we were recently at Celsius 232, one of the people we interviewed - not only in his capacity as a writer but also as a member of the festival's organising committee - was the developer, designer, and game director Angel Luis Sucasas, a veteran of MercurySteam and Tequila Works, amongst others, and one of the things we discussed during that meeting was Tuned In, the title currently being developed by Vercors Games, a team comprising the core development team from Tequila Works - the studio behind RiME, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, and Gylt - alongside additional talent from studios such as Blizzard and Airship Syndicate. A game that draws on its narrative talent to tell a story so unsettling that you're not sure whether you'll make it to the end to see it through... or whether you'll even survive that long.

The project, which is still in active development and which Gamescom attendees will be able to experience using a unique, bespoke control system created for the occasion (a television built specifically for the game), aims to present itself as an anthology of horror stories centred on a cursed television in an isolated house in the woods, whose image traps you, and only through your memories (or rather, your worst nightmares and childhood traumas) will you, perhaps, find a way to break free from it and survive.

The general premise, at least in this section of the game's prologue, is to follow a young woman called June who returns to her childhood home and finds practically everything just as she left it... more or less. Because this time, there's no blood, no bullet holes, no signs of the massacre. But there is one thing out of place. A strange television set that shouldn't be there. An object which, as we later see, played a major part in the sequence of events that led to the childhood traumas June must relive, confront, and perhaps, come to terms with, in order to escape and move on.

Through the screen of that television, June will relive both her memories and visions of her brother Josh and her stepfather Arthur, and the events that took place during those months when everything went wrong. To this end, the gameplay is based on a very simple premise, at least at first. The control system focuses solely on the television's two dials (frequency and volume) and two buttons for changing channels (up and down). That's it, that's all there is to it. But of course, the art here lies in turning those simple commands into experiences that genuinely make your heart race and draw you into the characters' world, because a single mistake can lead to a fatal outcome - or one different from the one you were hoping for.

This is another of the strongest premises put forward by Tuned In: that even in this demo version (which, incidentally, we can all already access on Steam), there are a total of eight different endings - and that's even though this is just the prologue to the full adventure. As Sucasas told us in the interview, those eight ending options in turn lead to further different branches in later chapters and, although we don't have an official total number of possible endings, the maths tells us that 'many' is the right word, and that replayability is therefore another reason to explore other possibilities in Tuned In.

The fact that Tuned In is controlled using two sticks and two buttons doesn't mean it's straightforward. Firstly, because as well as pressing buttons, you have to twist the sticks with varying degrees of smoothness - and, ultimately, all those brilliant ideas that come from taking inspiration from something like WarioWare are present here too, but the environmental puzzles will also have you racking your brains (sometimes, quite literally) and, if you want my advice, keep a pen and paper to hand. I'll leave it at that.

In my case, the first playthrough progressed quickly thanks to the objectives set by June's mind until I came across a sequence where I had to turn the movement dial so subtly that I struggled to keep my nerves in check so as not to slide my finger even a micrometre too far along the control stick (because Tuned In, although it supports keyboard and mouse control, is very much designed to be played with a controller) that, after several exasperating attempts, I let that failure become part of the prologue's outcome, even though the game is so cleverly designed that you don't really know what might have changed in the final section, so you're motivated enough to replay those 45 minutes again and, whilst you're at it, realise there were other paths or ways to find clues that I didn't follow the first time round. So far, my three attempts to reach the 'good' ending (I'm convinced it exists) have been unsuccessful, but I've found three different ways to die or kill others each time, and that flexibility in the story has me completely hooked on the game.

Vercors Games has skilfully played its hand by making the most of its modest resources to create a game that has the potential to become a hit. If this story, these puzzle designs and these possibilities for different endings are merely the gateway to this horror anthology, they certainly have my curiosity, my interest and my support. By the way, the Kickstarter campaign will be launching very soon at this link, so if, after trying the demo, you agree with me about Tuned In, please consider backing them financially.