Rusted Awakening

Rusted Awakening is a first person horror game with combat inspired by classic shooters such as Doom and Quake. The player wakes inside a rusted underground facility where sleeping humans are kept in perpetual slumber and harvested by inhabitants who inject themselves with drugs made from the sleepers. Told the surface world is dead, the player must escape with the help of a mysterious figure living in the vents. The game was made by one developer, Will Thorfinn.

Gameplay involves moving through sealed sections of the facility, finding keys, activating machinery and surviving encounters with the people who still live there. Combat is fast paced, and both the player’s weapons and the enemies are described as hard hitting. Health and ammunition are limited, so using them carelessly can leave the player poorly prepared for later encounters. Levels shift and traps are placed throughout the facility.

The game is built as a short, focused experience that can be completed in around an hour. It features a handcrafted industrial bunker to explore, environmental storytelling with minimal exposition, retro inspired visuals and an oppressive sound design.