Perfect for the Halloween season, Paweł Koźmiński AKA panstasz’s game World of Horror has finally hit its 1.0 release. The game, heavily inspired by Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft, has been in early access since around 2019 and finally, after 4 years of development has left the Early Access stage and is now a full release currently available on Steam with a complimentary 25% off discount until November 2nd. Those waiting for the console releases on the Nintendo Switch and Playstations 4 and 5, however, will have to wait a bit for a release on October 26th.
World of Horror, a labor of love from a single developer, panstasz, and has been 4 years in the making. Coming onto the horror game scene as an underground classic with a lot of potential it’s inspiring to see that potential realized with a full release to such a massive audience as panstasz’s launch tweet has garnered over 50,000 likes on Twitter at time of writing.
The single-player turn-based RPG sees a lot of room for player expression, with several choices for “Old Gods” to curse you throughout your playthrough as well as many choices, characters, and endings over the course of 20 investigations as you guide your characters through the mysteries of the small town of Shiokawa.
World of Horror is truly a marvel, the developer panstasz actually made the whole game in MS Paint, and the art he has produced in World of Horror is both beautiful and disturbing. As previously stated it is heavily inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, though from the artstyle as well as the subject matter and setting you’d be forgiven for thinking the primary inspiration is iconic mangaka Junji Ito, specifically his popular story Uzumaki, which sees several strange and horrifying events transpire in a small Japanese town, not unlike the setup present in World of Horror.
If you have a craving for a horror themed game for this Halloween season, or just want a well made and soulful classic RPG to experience, I highly recommend checking out World of Horror. As stated, it is available for a 25% discount on Steam until November 2nd, with a console release coming for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 as well as the Nintendo Switch on October 26th.