There’s no way out for Alex Young who wakes up to find herself locked in a strange mansion filled with puzzles, traps, and cameras following her every move. Whether she and her companions live or die, and find the truth behind their abduction, is up to you in this first-person mystery thriller. Players gave The Tartarus Key a 93% positive score. Released May 31, 2023. Top tags include Adventure, Psychological Horror, Exploration, Singleplayer, Choices Matter, Escape Room, Multiple Endings, Horror, Puzzle, and First-Person.
There’s no way out for Alex Young who wakes up to find herself locked in a strange mansion filled with puzzles, traps, and cameras following her every move.
There’s no way out for Alex Young who wakes up to find herself locked in a strange mansion filled with puzzles, traps, and cameras following her every move. Whether she and her companions live or die, and find the truth behind their abduction, is up to you in this first-person mystery thriller.
Developed by Vertical Reach · Published by Armor Games Studios
Player Review Breakdown
The Tartarus Key has about 288 positive and 22 negative player reviews out of a total 310. We'll add a detailed breakdown here when there are more reviews.
93%
positive of 310 player reviews
Full Game Details
From the Devs
The last thing Alex Young remembers is being at home alone in her apartment… so why has she suddenly woken up in this strange mansion? All the doors are locked by bizarre puzzles and traps, there are cameras following her every move, and she keeps thinking she sees… things… out of the corner of her eye. If she wants to escape alive, along with the other captives she discovers, she’ll need to use her wits in this adventure thriller.
Inspired by the look and feel of classic horror games, The Tartarus Key serves up a mystery filled with twists and turns, and more than a few deadly surprises. Rely on brains over brawn to help Alex survive, but beware - not everyone might make it out alive.
Features:
Escape a deadly mansion filled with dangerous traps, and rescue Alex’s fellow captives… or fail, and leave them to a grisly fate
Uncover three different endings, and dig to the heart of the mansion and the strange secrets it and your captors hold
Solve puzzles and challenges reminiscent of escape-the-room games in a variety of unsettling and bizarre scenarios
A tense, atmospheric adventure that relies on puzzles and plot instead of combat or chase sequences
The Team:
Leonor Parra: Founder of Vertical Reach and the artist making The Tartarus Key as atmospheric and unsettling as possible. Hates jump scares and vowed to make a game that's downright spooky without them!
Kevin Colegate: The programmer in charge of making a game that plays as smoothly as you remember the classics being! A lover of retro games, he hopes The Tartarus Key surprises people with its blend of authentic vibes and puzzles.
Josie Brechner: Josie Brechner (she/they) is a composer, sound designer, and musician from Brooklyn, NY. She's made emotionally-driven sound worlds for games like EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER, Blossom Tales 1 & 2, Mixolumia, Best Friend Forever, Freshly Frosted, and now The Tartarus Key. She has toured the US and performed electronic music internationally under the name Visager. Music from Josie’s three open-source Songs from an Unmade World albums has been used in hundreds of projects around the world.
