Planned Release Date: Oct 28, 2026

About This Game

1985. Your friend never came home.

Billy's bike is at the gates. Something moves beyond the fog. You go in anyway.

A Horror Puzzle Built From the Inside Out.

There are no weapons. There is only hiding, running, and thinking.

Designed by escape-room enthusiasts and mystery obsessives, The Kharzov Effect is a

first-person horror puzzle set at the fog-drenched Oregon estate of Dr. Kharzov.

First-person stealth horror — navigate the grounds without a weapon. Your only tools are your wits, your patience, and the shadows.

Monsters with distinct detection — some see you. Some hear you. Some feel you. Solving the estate and surviving it are the same problem.

 Escape-room-style environmental puzzles — every locked door, every sealed room has an answer hidden in the world around you. No hand-holding. 

Atmospheric environments — a world designed to keep you guessing. BTW, do you like analog horror? 

Period-accurate details from the 80's — before the internet. Before mobile phones. Before anyone would believe you. Just you, the dark, and whatever Kharzov built in there.

 Layered narrative mystery — the puzzles are part of the story. The deeper you go, the bigger the lore.

Meta gaming & ARG-inspired mystery — a hidden thread built entirely 

from easter eggs that transcends the game itself. Find it if you can.

English • Chinese • German • French • Portuguese • Japanese • Korean • Russian • Polish • Spanish

Doorway Studios wanted to build something that didn't exist yet — Traditional scares weren't enough — we wanted puzzles that challenge your mind, lore that rewards curiosity, stealth that makes you sweat, and moments that make you question whether the game is playing you.

The Kharzov Effect is the first chapter of an unfolding story. Chapter 2 is already in active development.

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Streamers & creators: streaming and monetized videos are welcome, no permission needed. Original music and CC0 sound effects, so we will never claim your videos. Full guidelines in our press kit.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

A very small number of environment textures were created with generative AI tools. All other art, design, code, writing and music are human-made.