Netflix is launching Unhinged, a first-person horror game from Night School Studio, the indie developer behind the acclaimed adventure Oxenfree. The title marks a shift toward grittier, mature storytelling for the streaming giant, trading the teenage angst of its predecessor for blood-soaked terror and home invasion survival.
The game follows two young women living in neighboring houses as one fights to escape an intruder. Rather than Netflix's previous forays into choose-your-own-adventure territory with live-action films like Black Mirror's Bandersnatch, Unhinged is a fully playable video game streamed directly to your television through the Netflix app, controlled entirely from your phone.
The cast reads like a Hollywood lineup. Sadie Sink, best known for Stranger Things and Marvel's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, anchors the voice acting roster alongside Zoë Kravitz, who appeared in The Batman and the Divergent franchise. Video game veteran Troy Baker completes the trio.
Gameplay turns your phone into an interactive tool: receive calls and text messages in real time, wield a virtual flashlight to navigate the environment, and make critical choices that branch the narrative in different directions. Death is possible, lending genuine stakes to your decisions. Each playthrough lasts just under an hour, structured like a single episode of a prestige TV series, but multiple endings and story paths encourage replays to experience alternative outcomes.
Night School Studio drew inspiration from the inventive control schemes of Nintendo's Wii and DS era. "We looked deeply at the Wii and the Nintendo DS," game director Sam Warner explained to Rolling Stone. "I grew up with those, and I think that focus on novel innovative play was something that we really started this game with. If you've got Netflix and you have a phone, then this is for you."
Unhinged drops on June 30 and will be available to all Netflix subscribers at no additional cost.
Author Emily Chen: "Night School is betting on the phone-as-controller gimmick to carry what sounds like a genuinely creepy experience, and the star power backing it suggests Netflix finally learned something from its interactive missteps."
Comments