Forthcoming Weird Horror, Eclipsium, Puts Reality in Your Hands

Invariably referred to on social media as “the hand game”, Eclipsium mixes distinctive PSX-style graphics with a surreal first-person horror narrative that turns reality itself into a controllable environment. It’s the debut title from Housefire, a Swedish studio, and is slated for release in 2025. A PC demo is also currently available.

Eclipsium puts players behind the pixelated hands of an unlucky soul who wakes up in the eponymous realm. A mysterious tower in the distance acts like a beacon, but reaching it, and finding answers, may not be that easy. 

“As you navigate through a series of strange and unsettling environments, you must uncover the secrets of this dreamlike world and discover the truth behind your existence here,” Housefire said in a press release. 

Hands Off The Merchandise, Pal

Eclipsium has already drawn comparisons to recent weirdo retro horror titles like Mouthwashing and Sauna2000, with the deceptively crude graphics striking a balance somewhere between Garn47’s wonky aesthetic and the grimy realm of Labyrinth of The Demon King.

Key to Eclipsium’s style is its use of hands, with the player character’s right hand constantly hovering in an open position, ready to reach out and grab whatever it can. The environment invites interaction, with a multitude of objects literally within reach, from desktop globes to TVs. 

Although the environment itself is undeniably dark and strange, it soon becomes apparent that reality works very differently in this place. For example, the door from the starting bedroom may inexplicably lead the player into a forest, or a mine. 

Locations become puzzles to interact with and test, as the world itself devolves into surreal landscapes with eye-caves and giant low-poly women. Some of these are shown through literally hand-crafted full-motion video cutscenes, which is a different kind of retro aesthetic not many modern developers are trying. 

Housefire And Player Responses

The studio behind Eclipsium, Housefire, is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is comprised of just six people. Eclipsium is its first game, and players of the PC demo have already offered positive reviews of the game’s unusual atmosphere.

“I definitely think its dreamlike quality is what makes it so special, it’s unexplainable the way that a dream actually is, there is no sense of normal so you never know what to expect which lends itself to psychological horror wonderfully.”

“It started in an interesting way with unique visuals. It slowly transitioned to some puzzles that were *just* the right amount of challenge for a demo. Not too long after it eventually got very strange, and weirdly eerie. I had to turn the lights on in my office because things felt off.”