First announced at 2021’s EEK3 (indie horror game showcase), TRIP—developed by French solo developer Bastinus Rex—received a brand new trailer in September 2024, displaying a shocking shift in the game’s art direction compared to its earliest build. While intended to be a rather short narrative experience—stated to have an intended run time of an hour once the game’s development is complete—the jarringly tranquil and colorful environments of TRIP, juxtaposed by its shocking use of thriller and horror themes, are why this indie project has managed to gain several accolades before its official release to the public.

TRIP was featured in ‘The Haunted PS1 Demo Disc: Flipside Frights’, was an honorable mention at the Berlin A MAZE 2025 festival, and was part of the September 2024 SixOneIndie Showcase

TRIP is a short but sweet narrative adventure game where you will find yourself exploring the confines of a surreal and mysterious passenger train, the passengers of which are equally as mysterious. By making your way all the way down to the end of the train, unknown abominations could be lurking around any corner. For that reason, choosing to find a comfortable seat near a window, remaining on the bright and friendly side of your new vacation home, is just as much of an option as choosing to leave. The beautifully scenic environment that greets you upon gazing out the train’s window is only amplified by the developer’s use of retro 3D graphics, giving the game a nostalgic aesthetic. TRIP’s visual style early on in development is far creepier in tone compared to the state we see the game in throughout September 19’s trailer footage. This is due to the older build of the TRIP’s use of low-poly, photo-realistic human models as the inhabitants of the train. These lanky, uncannily fleshy place holders directly juxtapose the latest trailer footage we see, where these “humans” are replaced with a far more fitting, expressive, colorful, and cartoony cast of animated and lifelike NPCs, who inhabit the train far more convincingly.

Fans of atmospheric retro adventure games that hold a dark secret are sure to enjoy this new release by Bastinus Rex; however, every kind of gamer should be able to get behind the fact that TRIP has a free-to-play demo available on Steam.