Key Preview Takeaways:
- The unique visual style is instantly appealing.
- The '90s-style adventure-meets-survival-horror gameplay makes it feel unique in 2026.
- Monster variety is lacking in the short, early-game demo we played.
I’m continually impressed with how many interesting and unique ideas for video games still manage to pop out, even as we’ve got literally thousands coming out every year now. If you haven’t heard of Silver Pines yet, it’s a pixelated 2D survival horror that answers the question, “What might Alan Wake be like if it were made for the PS1 in the ‘90s?”, and it’s something I didn’t realize I needed in my life until now. After playing the first hour of this creepy, stressful demon lovechild of Silent Hill and The Secret of Monkey Island, I was completely pulled in by the strange and unsettling story, the deceptively beautiful pixel art, and the eerie sounds and music that made each new darkened hallway that much harder to explore. Though, with only a very small sampling, it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to continue the momentum after a very strong opening stretch. Either way, this is already quite easily one of the most stylish and unique games of 2026.
Silver Pines feels like an episode of The X-Files or Twin Peaks stuffed into the retro shirt of a point-and-click puzzle game from the ‘90s, and developer Wych Elm Games isn’t shy about where it draws its inspiration. If you’re a fan of the now decidedly old-school era of the original Resident Evil or Silent Hill, you’ll probably feel right at home in this survival horror that’s equal parts fleeing from creepy monsters, gathering and rationing supplies to keep yourself alive, and fighting unspeakable horrors when all else fails. In one section I investigated a derelict motel filled with massive bugs and shadowy humanoids while trying to track down a missing musician, while in another I spiraled into temporary madness, as the lines blurred between reality and I found myself phasing into times and places I couldn’t possibly have been present for. This is one of those slow, creeping mysteries you’ll solve through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, whose survival seems increasingly unlikely even if the immediate horrors before you don’t get their way.
When you aren’t slowly being driven to madness, you’ll pick your way through light puzzles that have you searching for circuit breakers to turn on the power, use various keys and cards to access new areas, and even play a carnival game to win the prize of…a key you need to pass through a motel gate? That’s a pretty weird security system, but okay! These simple point-and-click hurdles mostly serve as something for you to work through while looking over your shoulder for whatever’s making that sickening groaning noise, but they do a good job at making even simple tasks very panic-inducing, as I learned on multiple occasions when I fumbled the wrong button and opened my inventory instead of sprinting away because some ghastly figure snuck up on me when I had my guard down. Trying to work through little puzzles while knowing in the back of your mind that something very spooky is bound to happen any moment now reminds me a whole lot of the early Resident Evil games that Silver Pines is clearly going for, which is, of course, a very good sign.
Scare-City of Resources
Another familiar way Silver Pines adds to the stress of surviving its levels is with its intentionally slow and imprecise combat. You’ll swing at things with a box cutter and shoot firearms with the extremely limited ammo you’re able to scrounge up, but enemies are oftentimes faster than you, you’ve got some pretty beefy cooldowns between things like swinging your melee weapon, reloading takes way longer than you’d like, and your character is a total wimp who gets bowled over by almost any attack. Sometimes this can be a bit frustrating, like during the first boss fight where you sometimes feel like you’ve got no shot of outrunning some of the creepy caterpillar-corpse-thing’s attacks, or when you just can’t seem to find time to repair your melee weapon with duct tape before the bug chasing you gets another hit in. But it’s the kind of good frustration that builds tension in a horror game that something like Silver Pines just wouldn’t be the same without.
That said, I do have more legitimate concern about the lack of enemy variety, as aside from the intro boss fight, I only encountered two types of enemies in my time with this demo. In fairness, I only played a short area, and I fully expect there will be many more baddies to fend off, but it’s worth shouting out that this wasn’t showcased very well in the opening area. And between the two enemies I saw, humanoids and bugs, they both had extremely predictable movement patterns and a single attack that made them fairly easy to deal with once I encountered them a few times. I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve had a chance to play a section a bit farther along in the game, but definitely something to keep an eye on.
It just wouldn’t be a proper survival horror game if you weren’t spending most of your time obsessing over a distinct lack of resources to get you through levels, and Silver Pines is no exception. A lot of the tension comes from the fact that you’ve got precious few resources at your disposal. Ammo for your guns is hard to come by, melee weapons have to be repaired with a roll of duct tape after just a few hits, and you’ll only find so many healing items to repair injuries that make your character even slower. Every once in a while you’ll find a vending machine stocked with valuable items that can be bought with the spare change you find lying around, but horrifyingly this money is also used to save the game. That’s right, in true Resident Evil form, you’ll have to use your precious few coins just to save your progress, which adds even more suspense to a game that’s already pretty chock full of dread.
The pixelated art is surprisingly fluid and expressive, the voice acting is off-putting and eerie, and every part of the small town you find yourself in is just so ominous and filled with little hair-raising details all over. It’s utterly Lynchian stuff if I ever saw it.
This means that most of the time the best solution is to run away, if at all possible, conserving what resources you have by avoiding combat like the plague. To that end, you’ve got a dodge move that lets you pass through enemies and obstacles to keep you moving along, plus you can usually sprint away from enemies if you time it right, but you’ve also got to worry about an extremely short stamina meter to contend with, which leaves you pretty defenseless once depleted. Yet another resource you’ll find yourself in short supply of as the waking nightmares close in on you. I mean, that’s just some classic survival horror stuff right there.
Lots to Love
But the main attraction with Silver Pines, so far as I’m concerned, is that the whole thing is just so dang stylish. The pixelated art is surprisingly fluid and expressive, the voice acting is offputting and eerie, and every part of the small town you find yourself in is just so ominous and filled with little hair-raising details all over. It’s utterly Lynchian stuff if I ever saw it, and despite so much of my time in this ghastly backwater being incredibly stressful, it’s a place I really look forward to spending more time in.
I’ve only gotten a taste of this harrowing and unique indie game, but what I played made me really eager to return and dive deeper into the muck of madness. Here’s hoping it delivers beyond this small sampling when it comes out later this year.
While you're here, check out these previews of other big upcoming games we've played recently!
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.
Continue reading...
