Labhorror is a first-person horror game set on PC that places players in the role of a contractor tasked with extracting three artifacts from a vast locked mansion. The experience blends stealth, resource management, and tension as an axe-wielding hunter patrols the corridors while players rely on limited tools to navigate and survive.
Gameplay
The core loop revolves around exploration and evasion inside a single continuous 200 by 200 metre mansion-labyrinth. Players move through five-metre corridors beneath 4.6-metre ceilings, passing through sixteen halls and past 145 lamps that serve as fixed light sources. The flashlight functions as both illumination and a defensive tool, delivering a six-second protective burst that repels the hunter before requiring a two-minute recharge. Sprinting and dropped objects generate sound that draws the hunter, who tracks by sight and hearing.
Hiding options include sixty wardrobes scattered along the corridors, where players can wait out patrols while listening to floor creaks. Coloured glowsticks create a persistent trail of up to twenty-four active markers to mark explored paths in the otherwise memory-less layout. Noise traps divert the hunter toward false sounds, and water bottles restore stamina for longer runs. A tracker device activates for ten seconds once per minute to reveal artifact locations, then switches to point toward the exit once all three scrolls are collected.
Each run features randomized artifact positions determined by a fresh seed. The prologue begins inside a prison cell where contract terms are read aloud, establishing the extraction objective without traditional menu navigation.
Game Modes
Labhorror operates as a singleplayer experience with no multiplayer components. Players customize each attempt through three difficulty profiles and optional toggles that affect hiding spots, noise lures, glowsticks, and ceiling lamps. Disabling certain elements transforms the mansion into a more challenging environment, such as turning off lights to remove fixed illumination points. These settings allow repeated runs with varying levels of assistance and risk while maintaining the same core extraction objective.
The Mansion and Its Threats
The environment functions as one unbroken space without loading screens, featuring seventy pieces of furniture and a layout that rewards careful path planning. The hunter never stops moving and cannot be fought or killed, forcing reliance on light bursts, hiding, or distraction tools. Sound cues from footsteps or dropped bottles become critical for timing movements between safe zones. The absence of a full map means players must build their own navigation system using limited resources like glowsticks and traps.
Is It Worth Playing?
Labhorror suits players who enjoy deliberate stealth horror focused on resource scarcity and environmental awareness rather than combat or fast action. The single continuous space and randomized elements encourage multiple attempts, while the customizable difficulty options let newcomers adjust the intensity. Those who prefer games built around tension, sound design, and careful planning will find the mechanics consistent with the described systems. The experience remains available on PC with support for English and Russian languages and five Steam achievements tied to core objectives.
