Psychological horror Short horror Night shift horror

Descending

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Ten shifts at the bottom of a pit, a fax machine, and the storms.

Platforms: PC
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.7 of 5 from 309 ratings on itch.io
Length: about 45 minutes
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse and keyboard, first person
Made by: leth, BigMorgo and FireColossus
Released: 2025

What frightens You work alone at the bottom of a giant pit with only an old one-way fax machine for company, running drills and handling information through ten shifts while unrelenting underground storms sweep through; the makers tag it horror, creepy, dark and dystopian, and the dread comes from the isolation, the storms and not knowing what you are really there for.

Descending is a short first-person horror game by leth, BigMorgo and FireColossus, free to download on itch.io for Windows. Your new job puts you alone at the bottom of a giant pit, operating drills and managing information, with an old one-way fax machine as your only company. You have to survive the underground storms and finish ten shifts before you can go back up.

About Descending

Descending is a small Windows game on itch.io made by leth with BigMorgo and FireColossus, and it is name-your-own-price, so it can be downloaded free. Its makers call it an experimental game about operating drills and managing information, and they tag it horror, creepy, dark and dystopian.

You arrive for a new job at the bottom of an enormous pit. Up above is a world with propaganda posters on the walls; down here there is a cramped room with a bed and a bare bulb, the machines you tend, and an old fax machine that sends you messages but cannot take an answer. Your work is to keep the drills going and handle what the fax gives you, shift after shift, ten in all, before you are allowed back to the surface.

The threat you can see is the weather. Unrelenting storms roll through the pit and turn the air thick and green, and going outside while one passes is something to plan around. Most of the fear, though, is in being alone with work you do not fully understand, in a place built for a purpose nobody explains, with only paper from above for company. Players on its page talk about an oppressive atmosphere where neither outside nor inside feels safe, and an ending that changes how the job looks.

It is about 45 minutes long and the makers mean it to be played in one sitting. It suits players who like quiet job-simulator horror and operator games, where the dread builds through routine, rather than chases or jump scares.

How to play Descending

Download Descending from its itch.io page (name your own price, free is allowed) and run it on Windows.
Read what the fax machine sends you at the start of each shift.
Operate the drills and handle the information you are given to finish the shift's work.
Take shelter when a storm comes through the pit, and pick your moments to go outside.
Complete all ten shifts in one sitting to get back to the surface.

Screenshots

Descending screenshot: a bare room with a bed, a bulb and a poster reading Our vengeance will rise from below

Descending screenshot: a metal tower half hidden in a thick greenish storm in the pit

Descending cover art: the title over a lift shaft looking down into the dark

Tips

Set aside about 45 minutes and play it in one go, as the makers intend.
Read every fax and note carefully; the work and the story both come through paper.
Look around between tasks: players mention notes that are easy to miss if you only go where the job sends you.
Play with headphones to hear the storms coming.