Static Dread: The Lighthouse Review

Video GamesReviews

Jan 2

Who knew paperwork and cosmic horror would go so well together?

*Static Dread: The Lighthouse*. Credit: solarsuit.games

Developer solarsuit.games’ Static Dread: The Lighthouse is a deeply unsettling Lovecraftian horror game that thrives on atmosphere rather than jump scares. It blends the bureaucratic tension of Papers, Please with creeping cosmic horror, and it’s hard not to think of No, I’m Not a Human from Trioskaz and Critical Reflex, which similarly builds dread through daily routines and interactions with people you’re never quite sure you can trust. The result is an oppressive, atmospheric experience steeped in exquisite dread.

After a global cataclysm renders modern navigation useless, you’re dispatched to operate an ancient lighthouse on the small island of Outsmouth. Your instructions, delivered over a crackling radio, are deceptively simple: keep the lighthouse operational, guide ships safely to port, and—most ominously—never let anyone inside. Meanwhile, your wife and daughter wait for you back home, completely out of reach. With each passing day, the island grows stranger and more hostile.

Gameplay revolves around two main responsibilities. First, you guide ships using your radio, deciphering static-filled transmissions and verifying documents before faxing back navigation forms that chart safe routes. The rules grow increasingly complex as your distant boss adds new constraints and caveats. At the same time, an unknown and increasingly aggressive presence begins making demands of its own over the airwaves.

The lighthouse itself seems actively opposed to your efforts. Eldritch symbols appear on the walls, the generator fails at the worst moments, and creeping shadows close in whenever the lights flicker. You must manage your sanity and exhaustion by drinking coffee and eating food, though these survival mechanics feel more like busywork than meaningful tension, slightly detracting from the overall experience.

The game's greatest strength lies in character interactions. Villagers knock at your door nightly. A fisherman vendor. A man who delivers supplies and your salary. A strange boy in a raincoat. A village elder who demands entry. Does he merely want to wait there for his son, who is at sea, or does he have ulterior motives? Who do you trust? Every interaction forces you to make uneasy judgment calls, echoing the same deeply uncomfortable trust dynamics that made No, I’m Not a Human so effective.

The game’s lo-fi visual aesthetic is excellent. It doesn’t commit to a single retro console style, instead landing somewhere between early PS1 and PS2 visuals. The lighthouse interior, and how you perceive it as nights go on, does a great job of creating genuine unease and dread. Character and creature designs are memorable, especially the eerie, low-res photographs that arrive via fax.

Static Dread: The Lighthouse excels at sustained psychological horror, creating an environment of mounting pressure and paranoia that few games manage to pull off. In a genre often reliant on loud scares, its commitment to atmosphere and unease makes it stand out as something genuinely haunting.

Static Dread: The Lighthouse is available on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One/Series X|S.