s.p.l.i.t

About s.p.l.i.t

s.p.l.i.t is a short narrative horror game by Mike Klubnika, the Estonian solo developer of Buckshot Roulette and Unsorted Horror. It came out on July 24, 2025 for Windows and Linux on Steam and is also sold DRM-free on GOG.

You are Axel, a technician in a cramped, grey room wired with old machines. With Sarah and Viktor on an IRC chat, you plan and carry out a malware attack on a facility the store calls a superstructure of unethical electronics. The whole game is played on the keyboard. In the chat, any keys you press send your pre-written lines, so the story moves at its own pace. On the other screen every keystroke counts: you navigate directories, read logs, crack logins and run programs in a command prompt where spelling, spacing and the right command all matter. Your crew sets the goals, and then you work out the rest from what the files tell you.

There are no monsters and no jump-scare corridors. The horror is in the room and where the night leads: a filthy shack, pulsing industrial music, a noose hanging behind the desk, a growing sense that this job will cost far more than planned, and themes the store warns about directly, including self-harm and suicide. Engadget wrote that the final scenes, where fast typing has gruesome consequences, stay with you for days. Noisy Pixel liked the tension but found the lack of hand-holding hard going at first.

Against other computer horror games, it asks you to really use a command line rather than click through a fake desktop. It suits players who liked Buckshot Roulette's grim style, anyone who enjoys hacking games, and fans of short, dark stories that can be finished in one evening. Players who dislike typing or reading will find it hard going.

How to play s.p.l.i.t

1. Buy it on Steam or GOG for Windows or Linux.
2. Read the IRC chat to learn what your crew needs you to do next, and press any keys to send your replies.
3. Hold Alt and press A or D to turn between the chat screen, the hacking terminal and the rest of the room.
4. Type commands into the terminal to move through directories, read files and run the tools you are given.
5. Work through each step the crew describes, from cracking logins to planting the malware, and see the night through to its end.

Tips

• Type help whenever you are stuck: it lists every command, and Engadget found it a good way to spot paths it had not tried.
• Use the print command to put codes and numbers on the paper strip by the screen; you will need them later.
• Spelling, spacing, capitals and punctuation all count in the terminal, so check a command before you give up on it.
• Spend the first part learning to move around with the directory commands; you use them for the whole game.
• Read the store's content warnings first if self-harm or suicide are hard subjects for you.

Questions