''Carrion'' () is a

horror video game A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. Unlike most other video game genres, which are classified by their gameplay, horror games are nearly always based on narrative or visual pr ...

developed by Phobia Game Studio and published by

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...

. Described as a "reverse-horror game", the game allows players to control a tentacled monster whose objective is to make its way through a facility, stalking and killing humans in its path. ''Carrion'' was released for Microsoft Windows,

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

, Nintendo Switch, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on July 23, 2020. A PlayStation 4 version of the game was released on October 22, 2021, and a version for

Amazon Luna Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming platform developed and operated by Amazon. Luna was announced on September 24, 2020, with early access available to subscribers by invitation beginning on October 20, 2020. In its early access state, Amazon Luna ...

was made available on November 4, 2021. A PlayStation 5 port was released on April 27, 2023.

Gameplay

Players control a red, amorphous, tentacled monster of unknown origin. The monster must make its way through a facility, crawling through vents and killing scientists and soldiers. As the game progresses, players can obtain

upgrades The fourth season of ''Stargate SG-1'', an American-Canadian television series, began airing on June 30, 2000 on Showtime. The fourth season concluded after 22 episodes on February 14, 2001 on British Sky One, which overtook Showtime in mid-seaso ...

such as the ability to dash—which can be used to break through wooden barricades and access otherwise unreachable areas—and to grow in size.

Plot

An amorphous entity known only as “The Monster” is held in a containment unit within a research facility owned by a company called Relith Science. The creature breaks out and progresses through the facility in order to find an exit. As the organism progresses through the facility, it fights and devours its way through the facility's staff and security forces. Along the way, the creature discovers pieces of its genetic code removed by the scientists for study and containment, which allow it to evolve, allowing for greater size and more means of both defense and offense. The Creature also encounters material analyzers which, upon entering, trigger flashbacks revealing its origins. The Creature was originally found within an egg-like sack by three scientists, and upon awakening, proceeded to kill two and possess the third. However, Relith security forces arrived and executed the remaining scientist, forcing the creature out into the open and allowing Relith to capture and contain it. Eventually, the creature returns to its initial containment area and absorbs the last piece of its stolen genetic code, allowing it to reconstitute a human form, which takes the appearance of the scientist it originally infected. It then escapes the facility and emerges in a partially quarantined city as the sun sets.

Development

''Carrion'' was developed by Phobia Game Studio, an indie game developer based in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland. According to tweets by developer Sebastian Krośkiewicz, development on ''Carrion'' began at least as early as October 2017. Gameplay from ''Carrion'' was first shown publicly at the 2018

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...

. An official reveal trailer for the game was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

by Devolver Digital on June 9, 2019. Devolver Digital promoted the game during their press conference at

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

Music

The soundtrack by

Cris Velasco Cris Velasco is an American video game and film composer. His works include the musical scores for ''Overwatch'', ''Mass Effect'', '' Borderlands'', ''God of War'', '' StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm'' and ''Bloodborne''. Biography He has be ...

was released by video game label Materia Collective on July 23, 2020. The official vinyl pressing, done in collaboration with

, featured an injection of red hygroscopic liquid to resemble blood splatters.

Release

Phobia Game Studio released a demo version of the game on Steam in October 2019. The game was released on desktop platforms (

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

and

MacOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

), Nintendo Switch, and

on July 23, 2020. In August 2021, a Playstation 4 version of the game was announced and released on October 22, 2021. A version for

launched on November 4, 2021. Christmas-themed downloadable content titled ''Greatest Time of Year'' was released for free on Windows, macOS and Linux on December 25, 2020 and for consoles on March 19, 2021.

Reception

''Carrion'' received generally favourable reviews on Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One according to the review aggregator Metacritic. It was nominated for Best Debut Game and Best Indie at

The Game Awards 2020 The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.carrion.game/ 2020 video games 2020s horror video games British Academy Games Award for Debut Game winners Devolver Digital games Indie games Linux games MacOS games Metroidvania games Nintendo Switch games Phobia Game Studio games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Single-player video games Video games developed in Poland Windows games Xbox Cloud Gaming games Xbox One games