''Carrion'' is a

horror video game A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describe tabletop games with horror fiction elements. Unlike most other video game genres, which are classif ...

developed by Polish developer Phobia Game Studio and published by

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wil ...

. Described as a "reverse-horror game", the game allows players to control a tentacled monster whose objective is to make its way through a facility, stalking and killing humans in its path. ''Carrion'' was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

, and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

on July 23, 2020.

Gameplay

Players control a red, amorphous, tentacled monster of unknown origin. The monster must make its way through a facility, crawling through vents and killing scientists and soldiers. As the game progresses, players can obtain

upgrades The fourth season of ''Stargate SG-1'', an American-Canadian television series, began airing on June 30, 2000 on Showtime. The fourth season concluded after 22 episodes on February 14, 2001 on British Sky One, which overtook Showtime in mid-seas ...

such as the ability to dash—which can be used to break through wooden barricades and access otherwise unreachable areas—and to grow in size.

Plot

An amorphous entity known only as “The Creature” is held in a containment unit within a research facility owned by a company called Relith Science. The creature breaks out and progresses through the facility in order to find an exit. As the organism progresses through the facility, it fights and devours its way through the facility's staff and security forces. Along the way, the creature discovers pieces of its genetic code removed by the scientists for study and containment, which allow it to evolve, allowing for greater size and more means of both defense and offense. The Creature also encounters material analyzers which, upon entering, trigger flashbacks revealing its origins. The Creature was originally found within an egg-like sack by three scientists, and upon awakening, proceeded to kill two and possess the third. However, Relith security forces arrived and executed the remaining scientist, forcing the creature out into the open and allowing Relith to capture and contain it. Eventually, the creature returns to its initial containment area and absorbs the last piece of its stolen genetic code, allowing it to reconstitute a human form, which takes the appearance of the scientist it originally infected. It then escapes the facility and emerges in a partially quarantined city as the sun sets.

Development

''Carrion'' was developed by Phobia Game Studio, an

indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

developer based in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. According to tweets by developer Sebastian Krośkiewicz, development on ''Carrion'' began at least as early as October 2017. Gameplay from ''Carrion'' was first shown publicly at the 2018

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

. An official reveal trailer for the game was uploaded to

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by Devolver Digital on June 9, 2019. Devolver Digital promoted the game during their press conference at

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

Music

The soundtrack by

Cris Velasco Cris Velasco is an American video game and film composer. His works include the musical scores for ''Overwatch'', ''Mass Effect'', '' Borderlands'', ''God of War'', '' StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm'' and ''Bloodborne''. Biography He has be ...

was released by video game label Materia Collective on July 23, 2020. Velasco sought out Phobia to do the soundtrack after he saw footage of an early animation test on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, and immediately became fascinated by writing a score from a perspective of a monster. The official vinyl pressing, done in collaboration with

, featured an injection of red hygroscopic liquid to resemble blood splatters. Artwork for the soundtrack was done by Dan Quintana, a friend of Velasco's.

Release

Phobia Game Studio released a demo version of the game on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

in October 2019. The game was released on desktop platforms (

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

MacOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

on July 23, 2020. A

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

version of the game was released on October 22, 2021, and a version for

Amazon Luna Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming platform developed and operated by Amazon. The platform has integration with Twitch and is available on Windows, Mac, Amazon Fire TV, iOS (as a progressive web app) as well as Android. Games and channels from b ...

was made available on November 4, 2021. A

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

port was released on April 27, 2023. The game was also released for

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

on November 5, 2024. Christmas-themed downloadable content titled ''Greatest Time of Year'' was released for free on Windows, macOS and Linux on December 25, 2020, and for consoles on March 19, 2021.

Reception

''Carrion'' received generally favorable reviews on Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One according to the review aggregator Metacritic. It received Best Debut Game at the

BAFTA Game Awards The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive En ...

in 2021. It was nominated for Best Debut Game and Best Indie at

The Game Awards 2020 The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards, ...

, as well as " Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" at the

24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards The ''24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards'' was the 24th edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards ("Design Innovate Communicate Entertain"), an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2020. The awards were arranged by the ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.carrion.game/ 2020 video games 2020s horror video games Android (operating system) games British Academy Games Award for Debut Game winners Devolver Digital games Indie games IOS games Linux games MacOS games Metroidvania games Nintendo Switch games Phobia Game Studio games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Single-player video games Video games developed in Poland Video games featuring villain protagonists Windows games Xbox Cloud Gaming games Xbox One games