The Shore

About The Shore

The Shore is by Ares Dragonis, a Greek developer who started it alone in early 2019 and worked solo for about eleven months before programmer Adonis Brosteanu and composer Thanos Zampoukas joined. Brandon Fague voices the lead. It came out on PC through Steam in February 2021. An Enhanced Edition reached PlayStation 5 on 30 April 2026 through Iphigames, with an Xbox Series X|S version to follow. A separate VR version, The Shore VR, is also on Steam.

Andrew, a fisherman, is searching for his missing daughter, and the search brings him to the shore of an island that should not be there. There are wrecked boats on the black sand, skeletons among the stones, an abandoned lighthouse on the headland and signs of people who came before and did not leave. The island is only the edge of something much larger.

The game comes in two halves. The first is quiet exploration around the lighthouse and the coast: you find items, use them to open the next area and look into strange things in the fog. Abilities such as jumping unlock as you go. The second half moves into other dimensions, with monster chases through fleshy corridors and alien structures and fights using the Artifact, a relic of the old gods that fires a projectile to stun and kill the creatures. Most of the story comes together in a long scene near the end.

Reviewers praised the look, the atmosphere and the creatures, and were mixed on the second half, calling the puzzles simple and the encounters clunky. It takes around two hours. It suits Lovecraft fans who want to see the mythos on a grand scale in one evening and do not mind a rough edge or two.

How to play The Shore

1. Explore the island in first person, following Andrew's narration along the shore.
2. Find items and use them to open the way to the next area.
3. Look into the strange things you see; notes and scenes fill in the story of those who came before.
4. When the creatures come, run, or use the Artifact to stun and kill them.

Tips

• Play it in one evening; it takes around two hours.
• If a path seems blocked, look for another; the edges of the island are fenced by invisible walls.
• On PS5, check the audio settings before you start; one reviewer found the default levels out of balance.
• Read what you find; the background story is spread through notes and scenes.

Questions