CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs

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A mute little sorcerer, a murmuring house and the questions you should not ask.

Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (96% of 3,015 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Bastinus Rex
Released: 2025

What frightens You are a small mute creature of moss and mirrorlight sent into an old woman's moonlit house and garden to deal with a ghost in her cellar. Its grotesque, staring characters, candlelit rooms and a creature that may be behind you give it a quiet, eerie dread, and the makers warn that pressing a question too far may wake something sealed away.
Content: creepy imagery.

CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs is a short, eerie mystery game by Bastinus Rex. You play the Carimara, a small mute sorcerer who speaks only through cards conjured from objects and memories, sent to an old woman's house to deal with the ghost in her cellar. Ask the right questions to learn what happened there.

About CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs

CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs is a short first-person mystery by the solo developer Bastinus Rex, published by CRITICAL REFLEX in October 2025 for Windows and Mac. The maker calls it a short experience full of hidden secrets and surprises.

You are the Carimara: small, mute and sorcerous, born of moss and mirrorlight and skilled only in the art of asking. You cannot speak, chant or fight. Instead you conjure cards from what you find, an object, a person, a memory, and hold them up to the characters you meet to ask about them. An old woman has called you to her house to rid her of a ghost in the cellar, and the answers you collect slowly tell you what happened in this place.

There are no weapons and no chases. You walk the garden and the candlelit rooms, look at everything, gather cards and decide what to ask and of whom. Some characters smile at your questions, some sneer and some only stare. Players finish the main story in around an hour, and say a further layer of secrets and a second ending wait for those who look harder.

Its unease comes from its look and its mood: a low-poly world in a dark, posterised palette, grotesque puppet-like faces with wide eyes, a moonlit pond and dusty rooms, all with French voice acting and a strange soundtrack. Players describe it as eerie and spooky rather than frightening, without jump scares, which makes it a good pick for someone who wants a dark fairy tale more than a fright.

How to play CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs

Walk through the old woman's garden and house in first person and look closely at objects.
Collect question cards from objects, people and memories you discover.
Show a card to a character to ask them about that subject.
Piece together what their answers reveal about the ghost in the cellar.
After the main ending, hunt for the hidden secrets for more of the story.

Screenshots

A hooded old woman with dark-ringed eyes asks Have a question?, above a row of question cards

A wide-eyed owl-like creature peers over a fence under the moon as the Owl card is held up

The old woman grins over a bowl by candlelight and says You curious little guy

A dim stone bedroom with a bed, a candle and the Carimara card held in the corner

Tips

Ask every character about every card; answers change who and what you can ask about next.
Look behind you now and then; players say it is rewarded.
Note odd details and symbols; the game's secrets build on them.
Play it in one sitting with sound on, as the voices and music carry the mood.

Questions

Is CARIMARA scary?

It is eerie rather than frightening. There is no combat or chasing, and players say there are no jump scares, but the characters and setting are deliberately unsettling.

How long is CARIMARA?

Players finish the main story in about an hour; finding all its secrets takes longer.

Is there voice acting?

Yes, the characters are voiced in French, with subtitles in English and many other languages.

What platforms is it on?

Windows and Mac, on Steam.