Horror escape Horror puzzle Horror PS1 horror

The Tartarus Key

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Wake in a locked mansion of puzzles and traps, and get the others out alive.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (93% of 311 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Vertical Reach
Released: 2023

Get it on Steam GOG PlayStation Store (PS4, PS5)Xbox Nintendo Switch Official site

What frightens Alex wakes in a mansion she does not know, with every door locked by a puzzle or a deadly trap and cameras following her every move. Other captives depend on her, a wrong step can leave them to a grisly fate, and she keeps thinking she sees things out of the corner of her eye. The maker set out to be unsettling without jumpscares.
Content: blood, implied violence, alcohol.

The Tartarus Key is a first-person horror puzzle game by Vertical Reach in the look of classic PS1-era horror. Alex Young wakes up captive in a strange mansion where every door is a puzzle or a trap, and whether she and the other captives make it out depends on how well you solve them.

About The Tartarus Key

The Tartarus Key was made by Vertical Reach and published by Armor Games Studios on PC in May 2023, and it is also sold for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Its art is by Leonor Parra, who founded the studio, and the maker calls it a first-person mystery thriller inspired by the look and feel of classic horror games: low-poly rooms, soft textures and dim candlelit interiors.

The last thing Alex Young remembers is being alone in her apartment. Now she is locked inside a strange mansion, its doors sealed by bizarre puzzles and traps, with cameras tracking her every move and shapes she cannot quite see at the edge of her vision. She soon finds other captives, and getting them out is part of the job. Fail, and the maker warns they meet a grisly end.

It plays like a run of escape rooms set inside a horror mystery. You search rooms for items and clues, combine what you find, press the right buttons in the right order and talk to the other captives between puzzles. There is no combat and there are no chase sequences; the tension comes from the traps, the captors and the question of who is behind it all. The maker hated jumpscares and set out to make a game that is spooky without them. There are three endings to find.

It sits near The 7th Guest Remake as a mansion full of puzzles, and near Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? as a game where a captor makes you solve your way to freedom. It suits puzzle fans who want dread rather than jumpscares, and players who like the low-poly style of late-90s horror.

How to play The Tartarus Key

Explore the room Alex wakes in and pick up anything that might help.
Read notes and look closely at the furniture and walls for clues.
Use or combine items from your inventory to work the mansion's locks, mechanisms and traps.
Talk with the other captives you free; they have their own knowledge and their own fates.
Work deeper into the mansion to learn who took you and why, and aim to bring everyone out alive.

Screenshots

The Tartarus Key screenshot: a dark red parlour with antler chandeliers, scattered books and sheet-covered busts

The Tartarus Key screenshot: a glass display case with red buttons in a library, labelled Hammer and Needle Button

The Tartarus Key screenshot: a stone tomb in a dim vaulted crypt

The Tartarus Key screenshot: Alex talks with a fellow captive in a red-lit room, with dialogue portraits

Tips

Take your time; the game is not timed and you can save anytime.
Examine items in your inventory, since clues are often on them.
Keep notes on symbols and numbers you find, as puzzles often draw on clues from other rooms.
If you want the best outcome, treat every captive's life as part of the puzzle.