Netflix is diving back into interactive storytelling, but this time it’s doing something a little different. Instead of asking viewers to make choices from their couch with a remote, the streaming giant is handing players a flashlight, a smartphone, and a terrifying situation they’ll have to survive themselves.
Unhinged is a new first-person horror game from Night School Studio, the team behind the acclaimed Oxenfree. A creepy trailer was released, and the game looks like it wants to blur the line between watching a horror story and living through one.
In the story, two young women are spending a stormy evening in neighboring apartments when everything suddenly goes wrong. The power goes out, danger closes in, and escaping the building becomes a matter of survival.
Players step into the role of Ava, voiced by Zoë Kravitz, who finds herself trapped in an apartment complex during a violent storm. What starts as an inconvenient blackout quickly escalates into a nightmare as strange events unfold throughout the building.
As Ava searches for answers, she’ll communicate with other residents, investigate the darkness, and make choices that determine how the story plays out.
What makes Unhinged stand out from other horror games is the way it uses your phone. Rather than relying on a traditional controller, players use their smartphone as the primary tool for interacting with the game.
Messages from characters arrive directly on the phone, creating the feeling that you’re actually part of the unfolding events. The device also doubles as a flashlight.
Players physically point their phone toward the television screen to illuminate dark corridors, rooms, and hidden corners of the building. It’s a clever idea that sounds tailor-made for horror fans who enjoy being immersed in the experience.
The game also splits audio between the TV and the phone. Conversations come through the handset while environmental sounds continue through the television speakers, creating an atmosphere that surrounds players from multiple directions.
Combined with the first-person perspective, it sounds like Night School is aiming to make players feel less like spectators and more like participants.
Every decision matters as well. Whether it’s responding to a text message, choosing which door to open, or deciding where to go next, players can send the story down different narrative paths. Ignore a message, hesitate too long, or make the wrong call, and the night may end very differently.
Despite the horror premise, Night School isn’t trying to compete with traditional survival horror games packed with combat and complex mechanics.
As Night School founder Sean Krankel explained: “We’re not coming for Resident Evil. It’s like, ‘I want to play a story,’ as opposed to, ‘I want to get extremely good at or play a game that has a lot of escalating difficulty.'”
That philosophy extends to the game’s length. A single playthrough can last anywhere from 20 to 50 minutes depending on player choices, but multiple branching storylines and failure states encourage repeat runs.
Krankel said: “It’s intentionally bite-sized, like a show. So you can play it one night and be like, ‘What the hell, that was crazy, let’s play it again.’”
The cast is another major draw. Alongside Kravitz as Ava, Sadie Sink plays Claire, a friend who becomes entangled in the escalating nightmare. Troy Baker, one of gaming’s most recognizable voice actors, also joins the project. It’s an impressive mix of Hollywood talent and video game experience that should help bring the story to life.
Accessibility was reportedly a major focus throughout development. The team looked at devices and games that made interactive entertainment approachable for newcomers rather than intimidating.
Game director Sam Warner explained: “We looked deeply at the Wii [and] the Nintendo DS. I grew up with those, and I think that focus on novel innovative play was something that we really started this game with.”
The goal was to create something that anyone could jump into regardless of gaming experience. As Warner put it: “If you’ve got Netflix and you have a phone, then this is for you.”
The game isn’t built around mastering difficult controls or memorizing complex systems. Instead, it aims to deliver a tense, interactive horror experience that feels as easy to start as watching a Netflix series.
For horror fans looking for something different, Unhinged could end up being one of the more interesting experiments Netflix has attempted in gaming.
The idea of using your own phone as a flashlight while navigating a dark apartment building sounds like exactly the kind of gimmick that could make a scary experience even more nerve-racking.
We’ll find out how well it works when Unhinged arrives for all Netflix subscribers on June 30. If nothing else, you might think twice the next time your phone lights up during a stormy night.
