Demo offers early introduction to Deperson

• Announcements by Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu
• Published:

Full version of hand-drawn, choice-driven psychological horror adventure due out later this year

Nightmares are scary, but at least we can count on waking up from them and returning to the waking world when they’re done. Unfortunately for the lead character in the upcoming Deperson, from Turkish developer Error Thing, it seems some dreams can lead even further down a twisted rabbit hole of a fractured psyche. 

Aaron Morozov’s had a rough time as of late. He’s frightened of everything, and after waking up with no memories in a hospital (or a “sanctuary for the unwell” as his doctor suspiciously calls it), he begins his search for answers as “reality begins to twist” around him. Surrounded by bizarre characters, surviving the brutal regime of Indrija, a nation “consumed by surveillance and fear,” will require Aaron to confront his past in surreal, frightening ways. Thankfully he is not alone; joining him on his nightmarish quest are peculiar companions with unique abilities that will prove instrumental in the protagonist’s success. But every choice has a consequence, and “reality rarely stays the way you found it.” You can roleplay Aaron into “someone stronger, crueler, or even more broken through your choices,” but remember that your decisions will “not only shape Aaron’s fate, but the fate of everyone drawn into his journey.” 

Deperson is a grim, self-reflective psychological horror game presented through hand-drawn 2D art and animations. Using either keyboard or gamepad controls, you’ll wander a variety of increasingly surreal environments, interact with perpetually highlighted hotspots, and talk with a wide range of outlandish individuals. As you progress, with a specified number of “echoes,” items and “core info” to find in each area before you can move on, you will learn new details and make decisions that will change how the story unfolds and lead to a number of different possible endings. Puzzles build off classic inventory fare, but many collected items have multiple uses to choose from. A gun can be provided to an unstable individual weighing the possibility of taking his own life, for example, but there are many other uses for a forgotten firearm in a “dystopian world.” Among the other characters who follow Aaron on his journey is a terrifying bunny-suit-wearing masked serial killer who never speaks but carries a massive wrench that can obliterate obstacles standing in your path. 

No firm release date is available yet for Deperson, but it should be soon with a release window targeting sometime in the fourth quarter of 2026. For an early first glimpse into Aaron’s twisted psyche, the complete first chapter is available now to try as a demo on Steam for Windows and Mac. 

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