Netflix is dipping its toe back into narrative adventure with the upcoming launch of Unhinged, a first-person horror game from Oxenfree developer Night School Studio.
Unlike the teen drama of Oxenfree, Unhinged looks to be a more mature, blood-spattered affair. The game’s story centers on two young women in neighbouring houses, as one attempts to escape a home invasion.
Unhinged also features bonafide acting talent, in the shape of Stranger Things and Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Sadie Sink, plus The Batman and Divergent’s Zoë Kravitz. Video game veteran Troy Baker rounds out the cast list, meanwhile.
Rather than Netflix’s previous experiments with interactive live-action experiences (such as in Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch), this is very much a video game that you control with your phone, streamed to your TV via the Netflix platform.
Gameplay makes use of your phone to receive phone calls and text messages, or to look around its world with a virtual flashlight. As you’d expect, the story features multiple avenues to explore — and yes, you can die.
While the overall experience is timed to feel like an episode of a Netflix series — lasting just under an hour — it’s designed to be replayable to explore different narrative branches.
“We looked deeply at the Wii [and] the Nintendo DS,” Night School game director Sam Warner told 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 launches on June 30, and will be available to all Netflix subscribers.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
