Stealth horror Survival horror Horror escape

Shadow Corridor

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Escape shifting Japanese corridors haunted by the curse of a Noh mask.

Platforms: PC, Switch, PlayStation
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (90% of 2,210 reviews); 4.72 of 5 on the PlayStation Store (431 ratings); Metascore 61 for the Switch version (7 critics)
Players: 1
Made by: Space Onigiri Game LLC
Released: 2019

No. 20 of the maze horror games · No. 23 of the hiding horror games · No. 23 of the folklore horror games · No. 20 of the Japanese horror games · No. 28 of the curse horror games

Get it on Steam Nintendo eShop PlayStation Store (PS4, Asian stores)

What frightens You are lost in dark corridors of traditional Japanese buildings that change every game, hunted by apparitions of a cursed Noh mask that use all their senses to find you, with only the items you scavenge to keep you alive until you find a way out.
Content: jumpscares, loud sounds, blood, violence, bad language.

Shadow Corridor is a first-person Japanese horror game from Space Onigiri Game. You wander dark, randomly laid out corridors in traditional Japanese places, collecting magatama beads and hiding from the apparitions of a cursed Noh mask that kill with one hit, while you search for a way out.

About Shadow Corridor

Shadow Corridor is the expanded Steam release of Kageroh: Shadow Corridor, a Japanese indie horror game that began as a free title and won the gold award in the horror division of the 13th Freem Game Contest. Space Onigiri Game released this version on Steam in March 2019 with a new story, new mechanics and, by the store's count, more than ten times the content of the original. NIS America brought it to Nintendo Switch in October 2021, ported by Regista, and Arc System Works sells a PS4 version on Asian PlayStation stores. It is voiced in Japanese, with English among its text languages.

Childhood memories draw you into a strange world of corridors. Each level is a dungeon laid out at random in traditional Japanese places: wooden halls behind paper screens, flooded rooms, shrine paths under torii gates. You search every room for magatama beads, items and notes that piece the story together, then find your own way to the exit. You carry a lighter that never runs out, a short stamina bar for running and whatever you pick up, such as firecrackers.

The threat is the curse of a Noh mask. Its apparitions roam the levels and end the run with one hit. Each behaves differently: reviewers describe a wailing woman who follows the sounds you make and can be drawn off with a firecracker, and a huge creature that charges when it sees you but ignores noise. The fear comes from long silences broken by loud bangs and screams, dark halls where you see little past your lighter, and the knowledge that being caught is game over. It grows bloodier as you go on.

Difficulty can be chosen: the beginner setting adds a minimap and turns off the random layouts, while harder settings put more spirits in each level. Finishing the story opens Apparition Defenders, a mode where you play it again as the spirits. Critics were split: some found the jumpscares effective and the setting a welcome change from zombies, others found the look rough and the play thin. It suits players who want a Japanese ghost story built around evading stalkers in a new layout each time. A sequel, Shadow Corridor 2, followed.

How to play Shadow Corridor

Buy it on Steam for Windows, on the Nintendo eShop for Switch, or on an Asian PlayStation Store for PS4.
Pick a difficulty; the beginner setting gives you a minimap and fixed layouts.
Explore each level with your lighter, searching rooms for magatama beads, items and notes.
Listen and watch for the Noh mask apparitions, and run or hide before they reach you.
Find the way to the exit to move on to the next level.

Screenshots

A torii gate over a cobblestone shrine path lined with glowing stone lanterns and red spider lilies, in orange dusk light

A red-robed, long-haired ghost with glowing eyes charges down a dark wooden corridor toward the player

A tentacled monster with a pale human face over a toothy mouth fills an orange-lit brick corridor

A dark wooden hallway lit red, with torn paper screens on one side and a lit candle on a stand

A flooded wooden hall with red paper walls and white lanterns, seen in first person with the lighter and health display

A dark flooded room with brick walls and wooden beams, where a glowing white orb floats by a gap in the wall

A lone figure on rocks in a dim, orange-lit cave looks toward a distant shrine with a small red torii gate

Tips

Learn each apparition's habits: one follows sound and can be lured away with a firecracker, another charges on sight but does not hear you.
Save your sprint for real chases; stamina lasts only a few seconds.
Firecrackers are rare, so keep them for a spirit you cannot get around.
Healing items are common, but the apparitions kill in one hit, so avoiding them matters more than your health.
On a controller, vibration warns you that a spirit is near: find a hiding spot and wait.
Mind the volume on headphones; the game relies on sudden loud noises.

Questions

Is Shadow Corridor different every time?

Mostly. Levels are generated at random when you start them, though the layout stays the same if you die. On the beginner difficulty the random layouts are turned off.

Can you fight the ghosts in Shadow Corridor?

No. You are defenceless and the apparitions kill in one hit; you outrun them, hide, or distract some with firecrackers.

Is Shadow Corridor on Switch and PlayStation?

Yes. NIS America released it on the Nintendo eShop in October 2021, and a PS4 version with English text is sold on Asian PlayStation stores.

What languages is it in?

Voice acting is in Japanese. Text is in English, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Chinese.

Is there a sequel?

Yes, Shadow Corridor 2, with a new story.