Analog horror Horror puzzle Psychological horror

Stories Untold

Rate it

Four stories on old machines, and one nightmare between them.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (87% of 5,544 reviews); 5/5 from The Telegraph and 9/10 from GameSpew as quoted by the store
Players: 1
Made by: No Code
Released: 2017

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store (PS4)Xbox Nintendo eShop (Switch)

What frightens You sit at 1980s machines and play what is on them: a text adventure about returning to an abandoned family holiday home, radio messages to decode and experiments on a strange object in a dark room lit by the monitor, to a synth score inspired by 1980s horror films.
Content: blood, violence, strong language.

Stories Untold is an anthology of four short horror adventures from No Code, published by Devolver Digital. You type commands into text adventures on a 1980s home computer, decode radio transmissions and run experiments with old equipment in four stories the maker calls one nightmare.

About Stories Untold

Stories Untold was made by No Code, a Glasgow studio of former big-studio developers led by Jon McKellan, who worked on Alien: Isolation, and Omar Khan. Devolver Digital published it on Steam in February 2017, and it later came to PlayStation 4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. It began with a single free episode, The House Abandon, which the full game includes in a remastered form.

The game is a compilation tape of four short stories, each with its own setting, mechanics and way of playing. The first sets you at a desk in the 1980s in front of an old home computer and a television, playing an interactive horror text adventure about pulling up to a neglected family holiday home. Others have you process radio transmissions and carry out experiments on strange artifacts using banks of period equipment.

What frightens is how little you see. You read and type, the room is dark except for the monitor and a desk lamp, and the synth soundtrack, inspired by 1980s horror films, builds slowly. The store calls the result tense psychological horror, mystery and sci-fi in turn, four stories and one nightmare.

It suits players who like slow, reading-heavy horror and old computers, and anyone who enjoyed games built around a single desk and a screen, such as No Players Online or FEEDVID LIVE.

How to play Stories Untold

Start the first story and sit down at the computer on the desk.
Type commands into the text adventure and read what comes back.
Keep an eye on the desk and equipment around the screen as well as the text.
In the later stories, work the radio, keypads and lab equipment step by step as instructed.
Play the four stories in order, as the anthology presents them.

Screenshots

An old television showing The House Abandon, interactive horror adventure, beside a home computer keyboard, a lamp and family photos

A lab bench of 1980s equipment with a sealed metal box, keypads and a CRT monitor showing a red object

A dark room with a television showing text from The House Abandon about a neglected family holiday home

Tips

Use short commands in the text adventure and try examining everything mentioned.
Play in a dark room with headphones; much of the mood comes from sound.
If you are stuck on equipment, reread the instructions on screen and the papers on the desk.

Questions

What platforms is Stories Untold on?

Windows and Mac on Steam, PlayStation 4 (playable on PS5), Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

Is Stories Untold a text adventure?

Partly. The first story is played by typing into a text adventure on an old computer, and the others mix in point-and-click, radio decoding and experiments with equipment.

Who made Stories Untold?

No Code, a Glasgow studio, published by Devolver Digital. Jon McKellan, who worked on Alien: Isolation, led it with Omar Khan.

Is it scary?

It is slow and tense rather than full of chases, and the maker describes it as psychological horror. The PlayStation Store rating notes blood, violence and strong language.