''Penumbra'' is an episodic

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

video game series developed by

Frictional Games Frictional Games AB is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö, founded in January 2007 by Thomas Grip and Jens Nilsson. The company specialises in the development of survival horror games with very little or no combat gamepl ...

and published by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...

and Lexicon Entertainment. The games use the

HPL Engine 1 Frictional Games AB is a Swedish independent video game developer based in Malmö, founded in January 2007 by Thomas Grip and Jens Nilsson. The company specialises in the development of survival horror games with very little or no combat gamepl ...

, initially developed as a tech demo. ''Penumbra'' is notable for its horror styling and for allowing advanced physical interaction with the game environment.Interview With Frictional Games – Amnesia
Linux Gaming News, 25 November 2009 (Article by Maxim Bardin)

Main series

''Penumbra: Overture'' (2007)

Set in the year 2001, ''Penumbra: Overture'' follows the story of Philip, a thirty-year-old physicist whose mother recently died. After receiving a mysterious letter from his supposedly dead father, Philip follows a series of clues that lead him to a mysterious location in uninhabited northern Greenland.

''Penumbra: Black Plague'' (2008)

The story of ''Black Plague'' begins as an email sent by Philip to a friend, explaining what has happened to him and begging him to finish the work he could not. The rest of the game then proceeds as a flashback narrated by Philip to his friend in the email, beginning from where the previous game left off.

''Penumbra: Requiem'' (2008)

A puzzle expansion with nine levels for the Black Plague Gold Edition. The game starts as the last one ends, with Phillip sending the 'kill them all' message. As soon as he finishes, one of the Infected barges in and hits Phillip on the head with something unseen.

''Penumbra'' (Tech Demo)

The ''Penumbra'' series is based on Frictional Games' earlier game "Penumbra Tech Demo", a short tech demo meant to demonstrate the capabilities of the company's HPL Engine 1. The developers admitted that they edited the original engine which was 2D to support 3D environments.

References

External links

Frictional Games on Steam
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''Penumbra''series at ModDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penumbra (Video Game Series) Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2007