Hunter's Moon, a new indie survival horror game, drops players into a 17th-century English village where a woman must evade witch hunters. Created by British developer Twin Swans, the game draws direct inspiration from the witch hunts of the 1600s, particularly the actions of Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins.
A Night of Terror in a 17th-Century Village
The game's era is not precisely specified, but it takes place sometime in the mid-1600s. A king sits on the throne, and an anti-witch frenzy grips the country. Women are being rounded up for suspicious behaviour and either hanged or burned alive. The protagonist, Lilith Thorne, is hunted by witchfinders and aided by local villagers for the crime of being a witch.
Gameplay is minimal, with the experience packing paranoia into a two-hour playtime. As Lilith, players navigate winding roads, forests, and pathways, seeking help from neighbours while staying ahead of captors. Lilith can run, crouch, and occasionally pick up items, but she is largely powerless, with no village map and no ability to fight back.
The Real Horror Lies in the Chase
The game's core tension comes from the suffocating fear of being pursued. One early sequence involves navigating underground caves without a torch, and the sight of witch hunters' torches drawing closer is consistently unnerving. However, the hunters are surprisingly easy to evade, becoming more of a nuisance than a genuine threat as the game progresses.
Distractions come in the form of local villagers, including mummers who sing folk songs, peddle wares, and deliver spooky premonitions. All characters sport thick Northern accents, and the mummers wear bizarre masks that make them look like creatures from folklore. One tells Lilith, 'The monsters are coming for you. I pray you survive the night.'
A Cast of Over 100 Characters
Players can eavesdrop at villagers' windows, seeing only blocky, woodcut-style silhouettes. They deliver gossip and lore about Lilith, though these details remain frustratingly vague. The game features over 100 characters, including a dominatrix and her tied-up lover, a French tarot reader, and Lilith's old beau.
Knocking on doors can bring threats from a religious women's group or rejection from friends, creating an isolating experience heightened by Lilith's rasping breath and a spare, haunting score. Voices swirl from passageways and bushes, disorienting and absorbing the player.
A Relevant Horror Story
Set 400 years ago, the game's themes of fervour, paranoia, and lack of trust feel depressingly relevant to today. The witch hunts in Lilith's village mirror modern situations, making the true scare of Hunter's Moon the familiarity of her plight in 2026.
Hunter's Moon is a tightly-paced folk horror story with parallels to witch hunts. Its setting is wonderfully spooky, and the pleasure lies in eavesdropping on neighbours, listening to hunters, and spotting the bizarrely dressed mummers. The massive voice cast all pull their weight. However, there is not a lot of substance, and evading the witch hunters is fairly easy, stripping some panic from the brief two-hour experience. The game scores 6/10 and is available on PlayStation 5 for £14.99, published by Twin Swans, released on 26th October 2026, with an age rating of 12.
