Sci-fi and space horror Survival horror Horror puzzle Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror

Chordosis

Rate it

A missing twin, a Hungarian village and the lights in the sky above it.

Platforms: PC
Stores: itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: 4.7 of 5 from 289 ratings on itch.io
Length: about an hour per session (maker's estimate)
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse, or an Xbox, PlayStation or other gamepad; subtitles and an interactive tutorial
Made by: AdamDubiGames
Released: 2023

What frightens Sadie's twin sister has vanished from Dunahont, a remote Hungarian village in the region where most of the country's UFO sightings happen, and the authorities will not help. Searching it alone at night, she meets pale grey aliens in dark tunnels and alien machinery, with a few bullets and whatever fits in her hands, in what the maker calls cosmic survival horror about alien abductions.

Chordosis is a first-person survival horror game about alien abductions by the Hungarian developer AdamDubiGames. As Sadie, you search the remote village of Dunahont for your vanished twin sister, solving physics puzzles, managing an inventory held in your hands and facing the aliens with scarce weapons. The itch.io Founders Edition is paid, with a free demo.

About Chordosis

Chordosis is an Unreal Engine horror game by AdamDubiGames, a Hungarian developer, first released on itch.io in September 2023 for Windows. Its maker took the idea from his own country: of Hungary's few reported UFO sightings, about nine in ten come from one remote, little-known rural area, and the stories of its villages became the starting point, with the first season of The X-Files as the other.

You play Sadie, whose twin sister has disappeared. The authorities have no interest, so she goes to the small village of Dunahont herself. The pictures show a church spire against a pale sky, foggy marshes, a lone street lamp in a misty wood, and below ground, overgrown tunnels and ribbed corridors of machinery that do not belong to any village.

It plays in first person with a physical inventory you hold in your hands, a device with item slots and a life meter, and physics-based puzzles built into the world. There are weapons, a handgun among them, but ammunition is counted in single figures, and the maker promises unpredictable alien behaviour and a nonlinear path that rewards exploring. Three modes include an easy one for players who want the atmosphere and story without the fight for survival.

The itch.io release is the Founders Edition, a paid download with an episode the maker says will stay exclusive to it; a free demo is also on the page, and the maker has said an episodic Steam and Epic Games Store release is in the works. The game is still listed as in development. It suits players who like slow, dark searches of abandoned places with something inhuman in them, and anyone who grew up on The X-Files.

How to play Chordosis

Download the free demo, or buy the Founders Edition, from the itch.io page (Windows; the full game is a 12 GB download).
Choose one of the three modes; the easy mode keeps the story and atmosphere with less pressure to survive.
Explore Dunahont and the places beneath it in first person, looking for traces of Sadie's sister.
Pick up items into the inventory in Sadie's hands, and use them and the physics of the world to solve puzzles.
Keep an eye on your life meter and your few bullets when the aliens come close.

Screenshots

Chordosis Founders Edition cover: the game's name over a grey alien face in the dark

Chordosis screenshot: a village church spire behind bare trees under a pale sky with birds

Chordosis screenshot: a single street lamp lighting a foggy road through a dark wood

Chordosis screenshot: Sadie's handheld inventory device with item slots, a media slot and a life meter

Chordosis screenshot: a grey alien walking toward Sadie down a tunnel shored with timber

Chordosis screenshot: an old building at night lit by two floodlights among dark trees

Tips

Check the system requirements first: the maker lists a GTX 1060 6 GB, 12 GB of RAM and an SSD.
Explore off the main path; the maker says the game rewards it.
Headphones help: the sound is built for binaural audio.
Try the demo first if you are unsure your PC can run it.

Questions

Is Chordosis free?

No. The Founders Edition is a paid download on itch.io, but there is a free demo on the same page.

Is Chordosis on Steam?

Not yet. The maker has said an episodic Steam and Epic Games Store release is in the works, and that the itch.io Founders Edition will keep an episode of its own.

What is Chordosis about?

Sadie searches a remote Hungarian village, in the region of most of the country's UFO sightings, for her twin sister, who has been taken by something from the sky.

Can I play Chordosis with a controller?

Yes. It supports Xbox, PlayStation and other gamepads, as well as keyboard and mouse.