Psychological horror Short horror PS1 horror Horror walking simulators

Sagebrush

Rate it

Walk the empty ranch where a cult ended itself, and find out why.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (95% of 316 reviews); 4.7 of 5 from 415 ratings on itch.io; Metascore 79 on Switch from 4 critic reviews
Length: about 2 hours (HowLongToBeat main story; the maker estimates 60 to 120 minutes)
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse, or a controller (full controller support on Steam)
Made by: Redact Games
Released: 2018

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 24 of the cult horror games · No. 9 of the horror games set in mines · No. 12 of the religious horror games · No. 6 of the VHS tape horror games · No. 1 of the desert horror games

Get it on Steam itch.io (Windows, Mac)Nintendo eShop (Switch)PlayStation Store (PS4)Xbox (Xbox One, Series X|S)

What frightens You walk alone through Black Sage Ranch, the abandoned New Mexico compound of the apocalyptic cult Perfect Heaven, years after its members took their lives in a mass suicide. Dark trailers, chapels and old mines hold the notes, recordings and belongings that tell you who they were, what their prophet Father James taught them, and why they ended it all.
Content: suicide, self-harm (explicit descriptions), implied sexual assault, implied child abuse, religious cult, drug references, blood.

Sagebrush is a short first-person horror adventure by Redact Games. You explore Black Sage Ranch, the abandoned compound of an apocalyptic cult in the New Mexico desert, years after its members died in a mass suicide, and piece together from what they left behind who they were and why they followed their prophet. It takes one to two hours.

About Sagebrush

Sagebrush is the first game from Redact Games, the studio of Nate Berens. It came out on PC and Mac in September 2018, and Ratalaika Games brought it to Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2019: PS4 and Xbox One on August 7 and Switch on August 9.

The cult is Perfect Heaven, formed in the early 1990s around a prophet called Father James. Years after the Flock took their lives together, you arrive at Black Sage Ranch, their home in the remote New Mexico desert, and walk it from the trailers where they slept to the halls where they ate and prayed, and down into old mines beneath the compound.

There are no monsters and nothing to fight. You open doors, find journals, letters, tapes and belongings, and read the sermons and private thoughts of the people who lived there. The maker based the cult on research into real apocalyptic groups and avoids easy answers: the members are ordinary people with their own reasons for joining.

The fear is slow and quiet. The low-poly, low-resolution look, the dusk light and the ambient score make the empty ranch feel watched, and the more you read, the heavier it gets to know how the story ends. It suits players who like walking simulators and found-story games, and anyone who wants an evening's horror built on something real rather than on jump scares.

Critics liked it. Rely on Horror gave it 8.5 out of 10, and Adventure Gamers and Bloody Disgusting both gave it 3.5 out of 5. One PS4 reviewer finished their first run in a little over an hour and noticed long quiet stretches with no music, which they felt kept the ghost-town mood intact.

How to play Sagebrush

Buy Sagebrush on Steam or itch.io for Windows or Mac, or on the Switch, PlayStation 4 or Xbox store.
Walk into Black Sage Ranch and look around the trailers and buildings in first person.
Pick up and read the notes, journals and letters you find, and play the recordings.
Open new parts of the compound as you go, down to the mines below it.
Keep exploring until you have the whole story of Perfect Heaven.

Screenshots

Sagebrush screenshot: a low-poly orange hall beside a dirt yard and wooden fence at dusk, with rocky hills and a dark cloudy sky behind

Sagebrush screenshot: a dim low-poly living room with a lit lamp by a floral sofa, a kitchen beyond and stairs on the right

Sagebrush screenshot: a blue journal and a tape recorder on a lamp-lit bedside table, with the prompt Read Andrew's Journal

Sagebrush screenshot: a flashlight on a chained, padlocked metal door and a broken window at night

Sagebrush screenshot: the note viewer showing page 1 of 3 of a typed sermon by Father James

Sagebrush screenshot: a dim trailer room with yellow string lights over a bed and a counter with a sink

Sagebrush screenshot: an old TV and VCR with the prompt Use VCR, under a framed portrait of a bearded man on blue wallpaper

Tips

Read everything: the story is in the notes and tapes, not in cutscenes.
Play with headphones; the ambient sound carries much of the mood.
Take your time in each building before moving on, as later areas build on what earlier notes tell you.

Questions

How long is Sagebrush?

HowLongToBeat lists about 2 hours for the main story, and the maker estimates 60 to 120 minutes.

Is Sagebrush scary?

It is unsettling rather than full of jump scares: there are no monsters, and the horror is the empty compound and what you learn about the cult's last days.

What platforms is Sagebrush on?

Windows and Mac on Steam and itch.io, and Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which also runs on Xbox Series X|S.

Is Sagebrush based on a true story?

No. Its cult is fictional, but the maker based it on research into real apocalyptic cults.

Is Sagebrush suitable for younger players?

It has no monsters or jump scares, but it deals with a mass suicide, and its Steam page warns of implied sexual assault and child abuse and explicit descriptions of self-harm. It is rated M by the ESRB, PEGI 16 and 18 in Germany and Brazil.