Krypta FM

About Krypta FM

Krypta FM is the first game by the Polish team Under The Sink Studio, released free on Steam in July 2024 after an earlier Polish-language version on itch.io. It is set in Gozdary, a small village in Poland, in 2006. Residents have noticed strange, paranormal things, and talk has turned to a cryptid said to roam the area and leave tracks behind.

You play a young cryptid enthusiast at home in your bedroom, with a bulky desktop PC and a radio. The Krypta FM broadcast and its web forum point you to the night's leads, and you go out on foot with a flashlight and a low-resolution digital camera to find them: a roadside shrine, a buzzing power pole, the edge of the forest. Your photos go back on the forum, where regulars argue, joke and slowly start to trust you.

The horror is quiet. The village roads are mostly unlit, the woods are close to pitch black even with the flashlight on, and the sound design does a lot of the work; players advise headphones. Reviewers describe it as tense and creepy without being built on jump scares or chases, and also as warm and nostalgic, a picture of early-2000s Polish forum culture as much as a scary game. The makers warn of blood, occult themes and flashing lights.

It is short and it is free, which makes it an easy evening's play. It suits players who like slow, atmospheric horror with something to read, such as the Fears to Fathom episodes or Home Safety Hotline, more than those who want monsters to run from.

How to play Krypta FM

1. Download Krypta FM free from Steam and start a new game; it runs on Windows.
2. At home, listen to the Krypta FM radio broadcast and read the forum on your computer to learn the night's leads.
3. Head out with the flashlight (Q to toggle, E to swap to the camera) and use the map (M) and journal (J) to find the places mentioned.
4. Aim with right click and take photos with left click of whatever the lead asks for.
5. Return to your computer to post your photos on the forum and move the story on to the next night.

Tips

• Play with headphones; the radio, the forum voices and the night sounds carry much of the atmosphere.
• Check the map often, since the village and the woods are easy to get lost in after dark.
• Read the forum threads closely, as the broadcasts and posts hold the clues to where to go next.
• Set aside about an hour; it is short enough to finish in one evening.

Questions