Caput Mortum

Rate it

Descend an alchemist's abandoned tower, where something still walks the halls.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (95% of 435 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: WildArts Games
Released: 2025

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (PS5)Xbox (Series X|S)Nintendo eShop (Switch)WildArts Games

What frightens You descend through a seemingly abandoned alchemist's tower in 16th-century France where varied monsters roam the halls, specimens float in jars and the walls warn intruders to flee, with only a handful of healing items and controls built to make you feel vulnerable.
Content: blood, depictions of death, monstrous creatures, experiments on humans.

Caput Mortum is a short first-person horror game by WildArts Games, inspired by retro 3D dungeon crawlers and survival horror. In 16th-century France you go down into the depths of an alchemist's tower, solving puzzles and deciding whether to sneak past or fight the monsters that roam it.

About Caput Mortum

Caput Mortum is a slow-burn horror game by WildArts Games, published by Black Lantern Collective. It came out on Steam in August 2025 and on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch that December.

In 16th-century France you climb a barren hill to an old stone tower that seems abandoned, then go down into it, floor after floor. The halls are lined with columns and painted ceilings, then laboratories of glowing specimen jars, then darker rooms where writing on the wall tells intruders to flee. Behind every door, the store says, lurks a new terror, and every corner hides a key to some secret.

The control scheme is taken from old dungeon crawlers to make you feel vulnerable: you move and look on one set of inputs and control your right hand separately, using it to open, take and strike. There is a King's Field mode for players who want that exact feel, and modern and keyboard-only options. Monsters attack on sight; you can sneak past them, fight, or find another way. Healing items are limited in number, as in older survival horror.

Puzzles built around alchemical symbols, mechanisms and notes piece together what happened in the tower. It suits players who like quiet exploration and dread over action, and anyone who enjoyed the dungeon horror of Lunacid or the slow descent of Amnesia.

How to play Caput Mortum

Choose a control scheme: the default, King's Field, modern or keyboard only.
Enter the tower and explore each floor, reading notes and the writing on the walls.
Use your hand to pick up items, open doors and strike at creatures.
Sneak past monsters or fight them, keeping an eye on your health.
Solve each floor's puzzles to unlock the way deeper into the tower.

Screenshots

Caput Mortum art: an engraving-style skeleton among dark scrolls and bones

A columned hall in the tower under a starry painted ceiling, leading to a lit door

A candlelit room with writing on the wall and the subtitle Flee intruders. The death of man lies below

A laboratory lined with glowing green jars of specimens, a hand holding a marked urn

Tips

Play with headphones and the lights off, as the developer suggests; sound warns you of what is behind doors.
Healing is limited for the whole game, so avoid fights you do not need.
Look closely at symbols on jars, pipes and walls; they are often puzzle clues.
If the default controls feel awkward, the modern scheme plays like a familiar first-person game.