Surreal Horror Puzzle Title ‘Concierge’ Launches September 17 on Steam [Trailer]

Brazilian developer KODINO and publisher Digital Tribe Games will welcome players to a genre-bending surreal adventure next month when their game Concierge launches September 17 on Steam. Accompanying the announcement is a new gameplay trailer, giving players a look at the game’s arcane settings and twisted mechanics.

Blending the psychological unease of analog horror with experimental game design and a heavy dose of melancholic surrealism, Concierge draws inspiration from titles such as Who’s Lila?, Yume Nikki, and Iron Lung. The game drops players into an uncanny hotel and its six abstruse realities, governed by its own tone, mechanics, and madness.

You wake up snowbound at a decrepit inn in the middle of nowhere. Armed only with a dying camcorder and a distorted sense of self, players must navigate broken timelines, elusive guests, and puzzles that defy classification. Some speak in riddles, while others don’t speak at all.

Using your camcorder, you’ll be able to perceive what the naked eye cannot. With it, you’ll find clues, solve puzzles and seek the supernatural. Secrets are scattered throughout every nook and cranny of the inn. Each of the six abstract levels are inspired by classic games and cinema. There’s also no handholding, so you’ll have to be resilient.

“We wanted to make Concierge truly unpredictable and mysterious in a fundamental sense — not something for people who know exactly what they want in a game,” said Yan Boente, co-creator at KODINO. “How surprising can a game be if you know, before you even buy it, what the structure of the story is, how you interact with the mechanics, how everything works?

“We want players to walk a blurred line between anxiety and curiosity, and to explore this abstract, disorienting world out of a sense of intrigue, not obligation.”