Tsugunohi -The Thread That Beckons to Heaven-

Tsugunohi -The Thread That Beckons to Heaven- is an entry in ImCyan’s Tsugunohi series of horror games, published by vaka, Inc. The series is built around the idea of everyday life being slowly invaded by horror, and this instalment follows a schoolgirl who lives in a house covered in graffiti as she walks the same road home during a hot summer afternoon. Over the course of the story, the people she passes, the scenery and the colour of the sky change from one day to the next, and the familiar route begins to break down.

The controls are limited to pressing the left arrow key to walk, with no other inputs required. The developer states that the game is intended to be playable by people who do not usually play games. The story is split into numbered chapters running from Chapter 1 to a Final Chapter, and it ends with a single decision presented to the player: whether or not to take the girl’s hand. Other narrative elements mentioned in the official description include a recurring group of people described as righteous, a thread hanging from the sky, and the girl’s mother, who carries a white umbrella and promises to protect her.

According to the developer, this title returns to the visual style and atmosphere of the earliest Tsugunohi games, with a look described as reminiscent of liminal spaces and dreamcore, while reworking that approach for a present-day release. The game has crossed 100 user reviews on Steam. The publisher also provides streaming guidelines permitting videos on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and Niconico, with monetisation allowed only through the platforms’ own official creator programmes and a requirement to display the copyright notice and official links.