Adventure · March 1, 2019

When the Darkness comes (2019)

trophy32 achievementsgroup100k–1M owners
A Game Without Meaning. A Game Nobody Should Play. When the Darkness comes is a walking simulator whose glitchy and dark tale tries to illustrate the hardships of depression and anxiety through a variety of imaginary digital landscapes. A clock, a piano and a girl. What do they all mean? What is meaning, anyway? What has meaning? Do you have one? A path, a goal, something determined, pre-determined? A light to follow? Discover a world filled with loneliness and fear. A world where despair breathes and hope dies. A world about you, about us. A world about humanity and about life. Before Starting This Experience is NOT for everyone. This Experience explores themes such as depression, anxiety, verbal abuse, manipulative control, and suicide . This game could also potentially trigger epilepsy attacks. Seriously, do NOT play this Experience if you believe this might affect you in any way. The first Arc should take about one hour to complete. About the Experience This was the culmination of a self exploration into my own psyche. If it can help anyone else explore their own I am thankful for that, and if the game isn't to your liking I appreciate you taking the time to try it anyway. I won't be updating it anymore (safe for major bugs) since it was simply an outlet for my own creativity but enjoy it as it is. Controls Movement: WASD or arrow keys Interact: F Jump: Space Sprint: Shift There's a toggle to swap between AZERTY and QWERTY layouts in-game. This Experience might not be suitable for streaming audiences.

Adventure releases from 2019

85 Adventure titles launched in 2019 — top 6 by review volume.

Peer Adventure titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Psychological Horror · 166
  • Free to Play · 153
  • Walking Simulator · 110
  • Indie · 106
  • First-Person · 96
  • Horror · 91
  • Dynamic Narration · 71
  • Narration · 68
  • Adventure · 68
  • Atmospheric · 66
  • Dark · 63
  • Story Rich · 47
  • Psychological · 45
  • Singleplayer · 43
  • Choices Matter · 36

Position in Adventure

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume8.3k Steam reviewsTop 28% in Adventure
Positive rating92% positiveGenre average: 87% — this title sits in top 45%
Engagement hours2 h averageTop 91% for session depth among Adventure

Press Quotes

“It’s a remarkable experience that’s full of breathtaking imagery and interesting surprises. A beautiful and bizarre collection of contemplative digital dreamscapes. Highly recommended.” FreeGamePlanet “When the Darkness Comes is a surprisingly smart horror game that manages to blend in introspective narrative elements seamlessly.” 9/10 – TechRaptor

Release & Availability

Release dateMar 1, 2019
DeveloperSirhaian
Base priceFree-to-play
PlatformsWindows
Estimated owners100k–1M
External linksOfficial site · Support

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

2h

brief (under 5 hours)

Median

1h

Typical completion time

Achievements

32

Steam unlocks available

Content Notes

This game explores themes such as depression, anxiety, verbal abuse, manipulative control, and suicide.