Summer of '58

Summer of '58 is a short first-person psychological thriller set in an abandoned Soviet pioneer camp, running approximately 90 minutes from start to finish. The camp Yunost was once an ordinary summer destination where parents left their children for the season — until 1958, when a nightmare turned out to be considerably worse than the typical campfire stories. Residents and counselors were killed at the camp. One of the children was accused based on found souvenirs from the deceased, but never located. The camp closed, and no one opened its doors again.

Fifty years later, Alex Morton — a video blogger who makes investigative paranormal content from around the world — travels to Russia at the request of his followers to explore the abandoned Yunost. Locals say the place is inhabited by restless souls. He intends to verify the claim, walking through the decaying camp with his equipment, finding hidden objects that immerse him deeper into the atmosphere of 1958, and slowly uncovering what actually happened during that summer.

The game describes itself as a walking simulator with thriller pacing. You move from one room to another noticing changes, listening to environmental rustles, working out the mystery of the mystical phenomena the locals warned about. Natural ambient sound carries most of the atmospheric work, conveying the effect of presence and gradually pulling the player into the same dread that pulled the protagonist there. The game contains flashes of light that may trigger photosensitive epilepsy — the developer's warning is worth taking seriously.