A chilling indie experience that blends survival horror, psychological tension, and real-world themes.
With its Broken Lore series, Tokyo-based independent company Serafini Productions has been slowly making a name for itself in the survival and psychological horror scenes. The studio has always been interested in dark themes, Japanese folklore, social problems, and mind-bending stories.
Their games are known for being short but intense. It’s not a long marathon to play the Broken Lore games; they’re short, intense, and require emotional involvement. Each entry usually lasts three to four hours and is full of symbols, deep stories, and creepy atmospheres.
The newest game in the series, BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW, builds on this history while focusing more on psychological horror. Players take on the role of Anne, a young woman who is being bullied, under a lot of pressure on social media, and has been through a lot of stress in her life.
The scariness in BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW doesn’t just come from jump scares or monsters like in most horror movies. It comes from Anne’s mental pain and how she interacts with her past. In previous Broken Lore games, like Broken Lore Low, the bad guys were grotesque and based on folklore, like giant Gashada ghosts. But Unfollow is more about real-life worries, being alone in the modern world, and the bad side of social media.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW is meant to be both a stand-alone story and a part of a bigger collection of stories. Meta-narratives will connect the games for fans of the series, but new players won’t feel lost if they start. The game is already set to release on PC, Steam, PS5, Xbox Series S, and other platforms.
There is also a deluxe version that gives you early access and extra content. This is big for an independent company and shows that Serafini Productions is becoming more mature in both business and art. Voice actors like The Sphere Hunter and Acadist are in the group, and the marketing and story plan use internet culture, which aligns with the game’s theme: the pressures of online social life.
People know the Broken Lore series for how it can use psychological and cultural themes to make the game playable. When I played older games, monsters weren’t just problems; they were also symbols of my own and others’ fears.
In BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW, Anne’s smartphone is used as a storytelling and game tool to show how much we rely on social media, approval, and always being connected. This mechanic isn’t just a trick; it’s an important part of both the story and the journey. It makes the horror feel close and personal.
Small studio, big ambitions.
One of the best things about BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW is its story. You are Anne, a high school student who is stuck in a nightmare world caused by bullying, family problems, and too much time spent on social media.
There aren’t any creepy houses or monsters in this story; it’s about Anne’s mind becoming the setting, the rules, and the punishment. The nightmare world she lives in is strange, twisted, and symbolic, showing how she feels and the specific horrors she has been through.
A lot of time is spent talking about bullying, bad relationships, and social comparison online. Anne is obsessed with her online appearance and the number of followers she has. This is clear from her notes, social media posts, and the way her phone works, which makes her mental state stand out.
The creatures she meets are not just random; they are symbols of her fears, of how she judges herself and others, and of how she feels about being judged. This design choice ensures that every meeting, chase, or tense moment has a purpose, giving the horror an emotional basis.
The story builds up slowly, and players who pay attention to natural storytelling will be rewarded.
Notes, items, and sounds help us understand Anne’s past, including how her mother abused her and how she was bullied at school. The story unfolds at a steady pace, with startling scares and quieter, more reflective intervals. The sluggish breakdown makes you feel scared even after the game is over. It’s the kind of mental effect that makes players ponder the topics long after the game is over.
Psychologists worked with Serafini Productions to make sure that the portrayal of trauma, body dysmorphia, and social media pressures is accurate and sympathetic. Some parts of the story, such as the social media comments, can feel forced.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW is better than many other independent horror games that focus solely on shock value because it offers greater emotional depth and a psychological focus. There are different endings that depend on what the player does, which add to the story, let the game be played again, and show how important choices are in Anne’s world.
Horror with purpose, not just jumpscares.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW is a first-person survival horror game. The game is based on sneaking around, exploring, solving puzzles, and sometimes going on chases. The players have to find their way through a strange world that mixes normal places, like school halls and childhood bedrooms, with skewed, scary versions that show how Anne feels. Each setting has a story to tell, so level design is an extension of the story.
The smartphone function is one of the most important parts of the game. Anne’s gadget is used to find clues, illuminate dark places, and keep track of resources. This design choice adds to the theme’s stress: players have to use the very tool that makes Anne anxious to stay alive.
It’s a cruel but smart metaphor for how much we depend on social media and how much we need to be approved of all the time. When you interact with the phone, it feels like it’s really part of the game world, not just an extra HUD.
Exploration is paired with stories about the world. You can use unsettling elements like flickering lights, long shadows, and crooked buildings on their own or alongside regular jump scares. The speed fluctuates between slow, stressful passages and quick, deadly pursuits, which keeps gamers on their toes and intrigued. the whole time. Even though the survival mechanics are simple, they work well: to move forward, players must avoid monsters, use their limited tools, and solve environmental puzzles.
There isn’t much fighting; instead, the game focuses on escape and psychological pressure. The creatures you meet are meant to be scary and symbolic, not hard to understand. This aligns with the game’s focus on dread and emotional impact rather than quick reflexes.
Some players might find the stealth moves a little hard to use, especially with a keyboard and mouse, but the game is better overall because it focuses on plot and tension instead of combat skills.
Every encounter has meaning.
In BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW, puzzles are closely linked to the story and the setting. Players put together memories, figure out what notes mean, and play with items that represent Anne’s traumas. The way the puzzles are made makes them meaningful: figuring them out isn’t just about moving forward; it’s also about knowing Anne’s story. For example, putting together her past experiences with being bullied or being abused by a parent shows the psychological layers that make up the nightmare.
The fight scenes are few and powerful. Monsters are representations of certain mental illnesses, like body dysmorphia, social rejection, or guilt. It’s more important for these encounters to create tension and unease than to offer typical combat challenges.
This supports the game’s main idea that horror arises from human experience and emotion, not just physical threats. There aren’t many boss fights, but the ones that are there can be hard because of small control problems or puzzles that are part of the game. This adds tension but may annoy some players.
The way puzzles and dodging work together makes for a unique rhythm. Players have to use critical thinking, pay attention to clues in the surroundings, and sometimes make tough decisions that are morally or strategically important.
This mix of puzzle-solving, travel, and stealth makes the experience more immersive, ensuring the story and gameplay are inseparable. Unfollow doesn’t introduce any new gameplay elements, but it does a great job of applying well-known survival-horror techniques to create a very focused, themed experience.
There aren’t many experience points (XP) or standard leveling in this game because the story is more important than grinding. Story exploration, puzzle completion, and choice results show how far a player has come. Because the stakes are psychological rather than mechanical, this design makes sure that gameplay reinforces emotional involvement.
Tension over combat, story over grinding.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW does a great job of using art direction to make scary things look even scarier. The environments are a mix of somewhat realistic and strange, dreamlike illusions. Anne’s worries bend and pollute everyday places like classrooms, bedrooms, and halls, making them feel uncomfortable all the time. Light, shade, and strong contrast are used to build tension. Points of light often draw attention to disturbing elements while leaving the rest unclear.
The monsters are meant to convey Anne’s inner struggle rather than to be photorealistic. Personal fears are rendered as visual metaphors through distorted measurements, grotesque silhouettes, and nosy looks.
These designs show psychological fear in a way that regular jump scares can’t. Similarly, details about the setting, such as moved objects, marked walls, and symbolic notes, draw readers deeper into Anne’s thoughts and strengthen the story.
The images look great for an independent game, but they’re not as good as those in AAA games. There are a few minor texture pop-ins and bugs in the demo, but they don’t detract from the experience. It’s important to note that the interface and smartphone parts work well with the world, making the game more immersive and supporting its themes of social media invasion and digital anxiety.
The nightmare wears Anne’s skin.
The sound is very important to Unfollow’s fear. During chase scenes, the music changes from soft background sounds to sudden, disturbing stingers. Noises like whispers, ambient sounds, and creaking objects in the surroundings make things more tense and keep players on high alert.
The sound design complements the distorted images and story themes, ensuring that the fear is felt as well as seen. Voice acting is one of the best parts. Cast members like Charlotte and Elsie Lovelock lend Anne and the other characters significant emotional depth.
Their acts show fear, sadness, and weakness, which makes scary things that happen or bad memories feel heavy and real. Even small audio notes or dialogue are loaded with meaning, enhancing the game’s psychological impact.
Performance is mostly stable, but there are a few small problems in the test, such as crouch mechanics, rare stutters, and bugs with the smartphone interface. These technology issues don’t detract from the game’s overall immersion, and they don’t make it any less able to unnerve and engage.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW is a great example of an independent psychological horror game. It’s only $16 and takes three hours to play through, but it offers tension, depth of story, and a unique perspective on current concerns. Its best features are the way it combines survival elements with symbolic meetings, the way it uses puzzles to further the story, and the way its strange visual and auditory design shows what Anne is thinking and feeling.
A deep, emotionally powerful story; magical creatures that turn interactions into story moments; multiple endings that depend on the choices made; moody environments with great use of light and shade; and strong voice acting. Cons are mostly small: there are some control issues, glitches, and times when the pace slows a bit, which lowers the tension.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW works in the end because it is what it says it is: a unique, intense, and personal scary experience. It doesn’t try to be everything to everyone or add extraneous stuff. The fear is psychological, the story has meaning, and the gameplay adds to it rather than taking away. If you like old-school survival horror games like Silent Hill 2 or newer indie psychological horror games, this game will give you a short but unique ride.
