ASYLUM News

Join our ever-growing Discord community to chat with the entire team behind ASYLUM. Ask us anything you want about the game, its development, our favorite adventure game, horror movie, preferred murder weapon, you name it!

Link: https://discord.gg/senscape


Mark your calendars: Thu, June 18, 12:00 PM PDT


The Senscape server has become the place to discuss adventures on Discord, but if you don't want to join, we'll take questions right here in our Steam forums as well.

Join us as we play the brand new ASYLUM demo and share insightful details about the development of the project, where we are standing, and what to expect next.

You'll be able to ask questions, give us feedback, praise us, insult us, and summon your Elder God of choice (success not guaranteed).

The live stream will happen right here on Steam, at our store page on Wed, June 17, 12:00 PM PDT:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/230210/ASYLUM

Dear fans,

Given the circumstances, the Steam Games Festival has been postponed until June 16. Our ASYLUM demo won't be launching next Tuesday as expected, out of respect for the ongoing social movement affecting the world. We commend Valve for taking this difficult decision and Senscape stands by it 100%.

Even though this is happening in the USA, the issue of racism and inequality affects all of us. There are instances of racism everywhere —sometimes involuntary, sometimes deeply hateful— which are strongly tied to the brutal inequality currently plaguing the world, both economic and social. You often hear that “things can't go back to normal” after the pandemic, and this is true: we must strive (all of us, all together) to achieve a more equal and just society, where everybody has the same opportunities and rights.

Don't be fooled by the fallacy of “they think differently” — racism isn’t a matter of opinion. It’s fundamentally wrong and goes against our human nature, so we have a moral imperative to decry it.

No tolerance for the intolerant. Always.


We know many of you needed a refuge space now. You've waited for so long and we are sad to do this, but it's the right thing to do. We'll be back soon with the promised news. In the meantime, we unreservedly extend our support to this movement and demand justice for victims of racism.

Love you all,

— The Senscape Team

Yes, it had to happen someday. It's true: you will be able to start playing ASYLUM as soon as next month. For free. Around 2 hours of polished gameplay. Right here on Steam.



So mark your calendars: from June 9th-14th, this time-limited demo will be part of the Steam Games Festival. Yeah, it's the Summer Edition and the game is kinda more suited to cold winter nights, but it will do. We'll make sure to send rain and thunderstorm your way.

This is the culmination of many weeks of hard work and we're beyond excited to finally let you play the game as we envisioned it. We're also a bit terrified 😬



But seriously, I'm genuinely comfortable with how the game looks and feels, and the demo is representative of what to look for in ASYLUM: lots of mystery, some fun parts, and of course the scary parts. It's Scratches-like through and through, but different at the same time. We sincerely can't wait to hear what you think of it!

Stay tuned as we're readying several activities during this period, including a livestream and live interviews. As always, thank you for your patience and your support while we finish this thing 🙏🏼

—Agustín

Whew! It’s been barely over a month since our previous update, but it feels like entire years passed by. At least it looks as if the entire world has changed (and indeed, it may be a very different world after this pandemic). Yet here we are, safe at home for the time being and enjoying good health. The team is accustomed to work from home, so we certainly can’t complain ourselves — others, however, are having a very rough moment these days.

That’s the first thing before we proceed with the quick report: if you need to talk, connect with other people, or any sort of assistance, feel free to ping us. Anytime. We’re ready to help in any way we can. We should all understand that people are coping with this pandemic in different ways, and being alone at home for an extended period of time can be distressing.

One particular measure we took, after we consulted with the community, is to set up a #covid-19-discussion channel in our Discord server. At first we couldn’t tell if it was a good idea or not, but turns out lots of folks wanted to talk about the situation, and the result was a lively channel with responsible information and contention.

As always, adventure game group plays are being constantly organized in the server and we’re preparing other interesting activities during this quarantine. We're also giving away Steam keys for Scratches during this period if you've never played the game or want to replay it.

It’s hard to tell how long the quarantine will last, and it will greatly depend on where you live, but the top recommendation right now is to stay at home as much as you can. If we can stick together virtually, it will be easier to endure.



As for us and the project, everything is more or less proceeding according to plan. I won’t lie to you, things are exceedingly more complicated now — two of us are locked up with children (even multiple children) and some of our days are truly, unbelievably chaotic. The streak of productivity we were having beginning this year has taken a noticeable hit.

That said, we’re luckily at a time when the project is solidly under control and we have a comfortable budget thanks to the Epic MegaGrant we received last year. We’re getting ready to wrap up a series of demos (for Kickstarter backers and journalists), and over one third of the game is playable in one go and in the bag!

All things considered, we’re very much working on the game even in this situation and still eyeing a release late this year. As I explained last time, the first 1/3 of the game was by far the most intricate and busiest moment of the game in terms of assets and design. But that’s done and it’s all progressing faster now. Currently, we’re putting the finishing touches to just a few rooms that needed work and more items: the Laboratory, featuring the mysterious Dr. Miller, and the Museum. I’ll be showing you more of the Museum next time, which had some outdated graphics and is enduring a decisive facelift — we’re including some truly sinister stuff in that place 😬





And last but by no means least, we’d like to welcome Rocío to the Senscape team! She happens to be Tais’ sister 😄

Hi, you two! 👋🏼



Rocío is a terrific artist who specializes in 3D modelling and texturing. It’s her first foray in the game industry, and talk about a complicated project to begin with! Her first task was to design disturbing medical instruments and severed hands, among other repulsive things. I’m so sorry, Rocío 😅

It’s funny: after a strange turn of events, serendipity has brought two sisters working together on the game while quarantining during an unprecedented pandemic. What a weird year! So thank you Rocío for joining us and help us put finishing touches to this cyclopean beast of an adventure game 🙏🏼

That will be all for now, but I’ll be sure to keep you posted. It’s a difficult year to be sure, but know that we’re determined to make you happier in a few ways before it’s done. Lots of cool ideas are on the plate, as well as a game that’s getting closer to completion. Stay tuned!

—Agustín