Over the last few weeks of games announcements, it’s been really tricky to keep up on the games to be most excited for as the second half of 2026 arrives. Whilst you may have curated a longlist of games for your radar, the arrival of Steam Next Fest will give you hands-on with some excellent demos and an opportunity to whittle that lengthy list down. For horror and metroidvania fans, let me point you in the direction of Silver Pines.
Silver Pines release date was finally announced earlier this month, with the game arriving on October 8, 2026 for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S (including Play Anywhere), Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. Silver Pines is shaping up to be the Twin Peaks-esque game I’ve always wanted, and it’s metroidvania style is perfectly suited to the mystique that faces us in the game’s town. The game has been on my radar for some time and the 1-2 hour demo built that excitement even more.
Silver Pines story is a mystery, playing as Private Investigator, Red Walker we are on the hunt for missing musician, Eddie Velvet. What we know about Velvet is very limited, and the demo does an excellent job of building a cloud around his story and what’s going on in Silver Pines. In the demo we speak with a pocket of other curious townsfolk, all clearly hiding secrets about what’s been going on here.
What impressed me the most about the demo is how developer Wych Elm have captured the feel of small town America, sprinkled on some Twin Peaks salt and Alan Wake pepper and created a location that is filled with intrigue. Everywhere looks eerie and bleak, with little America trope locations including a run-down motel, the general store and a bar are there for you to explore. If you’ve watched Twin Peaks then the inspiration is worn on the sleeve here, but its the ambient mood of Silver Pines that pulled me in. Blustery weather conditions, alluring music and even televisions playing set pieces with Twilight Zone DNA – or Night Springs if you’re more au fait with Alan Wake. Silver Pines world building is shaping to be up there among the years biggest horror titles.
As with the best metroidvania’s, there is some excellent and worthwhile backtracking to find new items that weren’t available to us before. The game is very resource limited, so if you want to risk using your bare bones munition to blow the lock off a chest, that’s your choice – and your risk. I’m very particular on movement in games and Red is able to get around the environments efficiently and smoothly, with the game feeling very precise.
Combat is very much 2D Alan Wake, particularly the original. Played entirely in classic sidescrolling style, Red will be able to use melee weapons – which break and need repairing with limited tape – and firearms, with the game offering a finite number of bullets. Like my favourite video game author, Wake, Walker can dodge around enemy attacks but does so with a limited energy bar. Energy is consumed by attacking and dodging, meaning you’ll have to be thinking your strategy to each encounter. Often, the playspace is confined so timing is key and running away may be your best option until you find more resources, with the lure of heading back for further items when you can. From the various trailers we’ve seen for the game, there’ll be a lot more weapons available in the full release.
My hype levels for Silver Pines have continued to grow. The developer is working on delivering updates to the demo based on player feedback and I’m confident with player input, we’ll see a very polished horror metroidvania just in time for Halloween.
This demo was played entirely on Steam Deck OLED where the game ran exceptionally well.
Have you already tried the Silver Pines demo? What other horror games will you be playing throughout this year? Let us know in the comments below or join the friendly and active Gamer Social Club Discord to chat about Silver Pines and all your favourite horror games.
