Daemonical is a new asymmetric horror multiplayer game in the vein of Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight.
Five players find themselves on a remote island, where a demonic summoning ritual has begun. The demon has possessed one of them, but they don’t know which one.
The humans, played in first-person, need to either find the items to complete the ritual and banish the demon or simply hide somewhere and survive the night. The possessed player needs to kill each and every one of them before dawn.
As the game’s tagline puts it: trust is optional, death is not. Since players don’t know who among them is possessed, the killer can play along with the rest of the group until they decide to reveal their true form and attack.
At that point, it looks like they will change shape into the creepy demon we see in the Early Access trailer above. It’s not yet clear if they can revert to human form, or how this whole possession thing even works, really…
Still, Daemonical puts a nice twist on the asymmetric formula we’ve seen in other games. Players face a tough decision: do they go at it alone and hope to survive, or risk partnering up with a bloodthirsty demon.
However, even if a player is killed, they can still stay in the game. Once they die, players become a floating orb of light, visible to the rest of the players. They can try and lead others to their body to be revived, or follow the demon to give away its position.
The demon may be stronger and faster than the humans, but it can still be hurt. Fire can cripple it, and there are other weapons and useful items randomly scattered around the island.
The game’s developer Fearem, a new indie studio based in Zagreb, Croatia, is planning to release Daemonical to Steam Early Access next month.
If you’re looking to “get scared with your friends”, why not give this one a try.
