SCAB

SCAB is a Lynchian, narrative-driven exploration-horror game set around an eerie, remote Australian mining site. You wake up alone, without voice or memories, in a landscape ever on the cusp of sunset, and must explore your surroundings in search of clues that unlock answers hidden within echoes of your past. But beware, you are not alone out there… memories aren’t the only things that follow folks ready to face the truth…

Technical Recommendations:

To have the most enjoyable experience, it is highly recommended to wear headphones and keep subtitles enabled (default settings).  

IMPORTANT: to avoid audio or subtitle glitches, allow voiceover tracks to FINISH COMPLETELY before clicking the next clue.

Background:

My main inspirations for this game were titles like Slender, Firewatch, Dear Esther, and some small Itch games such as Bloodbark. The work of David Lynch, as the blurb suggests, was also a major influence on this game. I wanted to create something atmospheric, fully voiced, and memorable, placed in a unique setting that was both surreal and familiar to me and following themes appropriate to that setting.

This is my first full solo-developed game, and was a side project created to test myself, as I had no prior Unity experience before making this game. It was crafted, playtested, and revised over the course of about 8 months, with a few major technical hiccups, including a full SSD corruption, to overcome along the way. Solo-developed naturally doesn’t mean I did everything on my own, and I could not have completed this project without the help of some very talented individuals. I am enormously grateful to the playtesters, programmers, writers and musicians who lent me their time and feedback to bring this project to life. Please check out their names in the credits. I am equally grateful to the friends and loved ones who encouraged me to finish this story, even when I thought it wasn’t going to pan out. 

If you enjoyed this game, please drop a comment or DM me and let me know what you thought. I’d love to hear constructive feedback, things you enjoyed, or any musings the game brought up for you. If you appreciate my work, feel free to check out my website, and consider dropping me a tip on Ko-Fi to support me in my game development journey https://ko-fi.com/rhysshurey. 

Attribution and Using this Product:

If you see or hear an asset of yours in this project that you’d like to have credited, please let me know and I will add you to the list of acknowledged creators. If you’d like to feature this work in any educational, commercial or artistic capacity, please contact me via Itch or the links below , and we can discuss possible collaborations. I look forward to hearing from you! Till then, enjoy!

Socials and Links:

Website: https://rhysshurey.com/

Bluesky: @trinitytales.bsky.social

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/rhysshurey