Dead Format

A lost brother. A cursed VHS format. A government cover-up. Dead Format is a tense survival horror that hurls you through nightmarish, film‑inspired realms. Set in 1990s Scotland, you play as a desperate sibling determined to locate a missing brother who vanished after becoming obsessed with a mysterious tape format.

Your apartment is the hub of the ordeal. It’s where you review clues, catch your breath, and plan the next move. The TV set and a stack of VHS tapes act as portals—insert a tape to unlock a new cinematic world, each with its own rules, enemies, and puzzles.

Venture into worlds that blend classic cinema with survival horror. Each tape drags you into distinct atmospheres: the eerie calm and shadowed corridors of Silent Era cinema, the lurid, stylish suspense of Italian Giallo, and the brutal, imaginative weight of 80s body horror. Every realm is modular, with unique areas to explore, fresh foes to defeat, and new puzzles to solve.

Gather supplies to stay alive and uncover key items that unlock your path forward. Arm yourself with weapons and tools drawn from the film worlds you visit, and use ingenuity to outwit threats that blur the line between fiction and reality. The nightmare grows as you piece together clues, race against time, and uncover the truth behind the tapes and the broader cover-up.

Dead Format is a mixed media experience crafted specifically for the game. The VHS footage you encounter is original, recorded and edited to fit the journey—each tape offering a nostalgic, cinematic window into the dangers you’ll face.

Progress is saved in your apartment, your only safe haven. Discover shortcuts and new paths to press deeper into the mystery, always bound by the fatigue of desperate survival and the urgency to find your brother before it’s too late.

Created by Chris Evry (Katanalevy), a Scottish solo developer known for blending dark, visceral tones with gothic spectacle. Dead Format is a personal, single‑mamer experience that fuses homage to cinema with a tense, modern survival horror tension.