Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror Psychological horror

Static Dread: The Submarine

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Keep a submarine crew sane while something vast moves on the sonar.

Platforms: PC
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (81% of 370 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: solarsuit.games
Released: 2026

What frightens You serve as the captain's right hand on a nuclear submarine cut off from the surface in the North Atlantic after ancient forces wake beneath the ocean. You assign the frightened crew to their posts, read sonar contacts that may be another submarine or something alive, and try to keep everyone, yourself included, from madness while horrors close in from inside and beyond the hull.

Static Dread: The Submarine is a first-person Lovecraftian psychological horror game from solarsuit.games, the makers of Static Dread: The Lighthouse. As the captain's right hand on a military submarine lost in the North Atlantic, you assign the crew's duties, analyse sonar contacts and make hard choices while ancient forces stir in the deep.

About Static Dread: The Submarine

Static Dread: The Submarine is the second Static Dread game from solarsuit.games, published by Polden Publishing and released on Steam in August 2026. Where The Lighthouse left you alone on an island, this one shuts you inside a nuclear submarine trapped in the depths of the North Atlantic. Ancient forces have woken beneath the ocean and contact with the surface is lost, so the crew must find answers on their own.

You are not the captain but his right hand. Each shift you fill in the duty roster, placing crew members in the reactor room, the torpedo room, the bridge or the pumps while watching their energy, the hull's integrity and the biohazard level. You talk with the crew, who are written as people with their own fears rather than assets, and the store says you will have to choose between completing the mission and keeping your humanity.

At the sonar station you scan the dark water and decide what each contact is. The game warns that not everything in the ocean follows military protocol: a phantom contact can carry mechanical noises or organic movements, and screenshots show red-lit corridors and a many-limbed shape in the dark. The fear is slow and claustrophobic, built from isolation, the crew's fraying nerves and what the instruments hint at.

If you played Static Dread: The Lighthouse, this keeps its Lovecraftian sea and its routine of checking and deciding under pressure, but moves from a lone keeper routing ships to a crew you must manage inside a sealed hull. It suits players who like story-led horror with management at its heart, more than chases or combat.

How to play Static Dread: The Submarine

Report to the captain and learn your role as his right hand on the submarine.
Each shift, fill in the duty roster, assigning crew to stations such as the reactor, torpedo room and pumps while watching their energy.
Keep an eye on hull integrity and the biohazard level as you plan each shift.
Use the sonar station to scan the depths and analyse each contact before choosing what to do.
Talk with the crew and make the hard calls between the mission and their wellbeing.

Screenshots

Four crew members in a submarine control room, one telling you to report to the Captain

The green USS Ares duty roster screen, assigning crew to stations with energy, hull integrity and biohazard levels

A sonar screen showing a phantom contact with mechanical noises and organic movements and a list of actions

A many-limbed creature with glowing eyes in a red-lit submarine corridor

Tips

Spread the work so no one crew member runs out of energy; tired sailors are listed on the roster with their energy.
Listen to a sonar contact's sounds before acting; the screen separates mechanical noises from organic movements.
Talk to the crew between shifts, since the store says each is haunted by their own fears.
Play with headphones for the sonar and the sounds of the hull.

Questions

Do I need to play Static Dread: The Lighthouse first?

The store presents The Submarine as its own story, on a submarine in the North Atlantic, so you can start here. Both come from solarsuit.games and share the Lovecraftian sea.

Is Static Dread: The Submarine on consoles?

At the moment it is sold for Windows PC on Steam and GOG. The Lighthouse came to PlayStation and Xbox, but no console store page for The Submarine was found.

What do you do in Static Dread: The Submarine?

You assign crew to duty stations, manage their energy and the hull, read sonar contacts and make choices about the mission and the crew.

Is it a game with combat?

The store describes management, sonar analysis and choices, not fighting.