Indie developer Causeway Studios is working on the Twin Peaks-inspired supernatural mystery game,
Inspired by David Lynch and the music of Lord Huron, the upcoming game uses full-motion video and detective mechanics to tell the story of a regret-filled family as a mother searches for her missing daughter.
Lilith finds herself at the centre of the supernatural mystery as mass vanishings occur. Upon hearing a voicemail from her daughter, Lilith heads into the Alpine Movie Manor Hotel and Drive-In (based on the Frontier Drive-In in Colorado).
You’ll engage in solving puzzles using “tactile detective mechanics” and “world-altering gameplay”. You’ll also come across the mystical The City of Dreams film reel, which uses FMV and lets the player edit the reel to change the world. According to the developers, every edit has consequences, and changing the reel changes the world around you.
Lilith is joined by a supporting cast and the Host, an enigmatic presence, and a malevolent spirit looking to claim the film reel.
The developers say that The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham is a standalone story; for those who’ve played the studio’s previous title, The Haunting of Joni Evers, there will be connections between the two games.
In fact, the two games are part of the Worlds Across the Causeway anthology universe. Each of Causeway’s games shares the universe with more vignettes and short stories available on the studio’s website.
“With The Haunting of Joni Evers, I wanted to get players’ feet wet in The Worlds Across the Causeway and establish our approach to deeply human and personal storytelling,” said Causeway Studios Creative Director Greg Rogers. “The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham elevates our design ambitions, diving deeper into our metaphorical lake, to tell a truly surreal story with tactile gameplay. We hope players spend time drying out on the shoreline to process their choices. Along the way, they’ll need to contemplate how far they’ll go to escape their guilt, and what (and perhaps who) will be left on the cutting room floor.”
The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham will be playable as part of the PAX Rising Showcase at PAX West in Seattle.
