Among Ashes Getting Demo on April 15th

Among Ashes intrigues me. I’ve seen relatively small-scale first-person horror titles that have you playing a game within a game, and as you play that meta-game, horrible things start happening outside of it. But this one seems to go further, in the sense that there’s a lot more to do in the “real world” portion. Well, now we know that the developers of Among Ashes will launch a demo on April 15th, and it’ll let us experience the first thirty minutes of the game. I’ll definitely be there.

So, what exactly is Among Ashes all about? Well, it describes itself as a “metafictional horror title about a haunted video game and the disturbing story behind its creation.” During a stormy night in the early aughts, your friend sends you a link to a weird horror game called Night Call. And as you play through it, bizarre stuff starts happening in your apartment. And the only solution, apparently, is to not stop playing Night Call no matter what. Except you will probably have to stop at times to solve whatever’s happening outside of the game.

At least, that’s the vibe I get from the trailer, which you can check out below. Essentially, you have a fully-fledged first-person horror game within a framing device of another first-person horror. It seems to me like you’ll have to push through Night Call and whatever terrors it has in store for you while trying not to die from the hauntings in the “real world.” Not to mention the true eldritch abomination at the heart of it all – the fact that it all takes place in the early 2000s.

All of that said, I’m looking forward to the Among Ashes demo, launching on April 15th, 2024. Thirty minutes should be plenty to experience a decent chunk of the game’s opening, including the “atmospheric & labyrinthian halls of Stoker Manor,” aka the locale where Night Call takes place. And, of course, whatever starts spilling out into your in-game apartment. If you join me and end up liking what you see, don’t forget that you can wishlist Among Ashes on Steam.