Link Steam
indiegame.fan
Paratopic header art

Paratopic

Smuggle contraband VHS tapes across the border. Discover the remnants of illicit industry. Prepare for an assassination. This is Paratopic, an atmospheric retro-3D horror adventure through a cursed fever dream.

Steam Page
Developer
Arbitrary Metric
Publisher
Serenity Forge
Release
September 6, 2018
7 years and 332 days ago
Steam Reviews
Mostly Positive2,154 reviews73.0%

Does this feel indie?

Vote based on whether this game feels indie to you. You can change your vote at any time. Results earn an IGF score after 10 accepted votes.
No votes yet
Vote on More Games
Game contextLatest: IGF Team
ContextThe evidence factors used to assess whether this game belongs on IndieGame.Fan.Status
Notes
Latest Contributor: IGF TeamEdit notes
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer.
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher.
The separate publisher has a broad catalog or developer network in the local database.
Search Google: Is Paratopic self-published or published by Serenity Forge?Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified.
Search Google: How is Paratopic and Serenity Forge funded?FundingThe known source of funding behind the game.
Search Google: Who controls the creative direction and IP for Paratopic and Arbitrary Metric?Creative controlWho appears to retain creative control of the game.
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released.
The game was released through a separate publisher.

Media

10 items

About the Game

"Paratopic is probably the most important first-person game this year."

Waypoint

You got caught smuggling VHS tapes across the border, and now there's hell to pay. You want to find an elusive rare bird in the forest and snap its picture. You have to kill a man in the back room of a shady diner.

This is Paratopic, an experimental first-person horror game named by Rock, Paper, Shotgun as one of the best games of 2018, and by FACT mag as having one of the top 10 soundtracks of the year.

  • A narrative, horror tinged adventure game that takes you on a journey through a cruel fever dream world.

  • Cutting between numerous detailed and varied vignettes, unravel how the stories of three separate characters intersect.

  • Explore the detritus of forbidden industry, kill, drive through the night, find yourself in conversation with some very off-kilter individuals.

  • A leisurely playthrough should take forty five minutes give or take, with plenty more to discover in the detailed, grimey low polygon environments. Or speedrun it, if you'd prefer.

  • Over an hour of gorgeous dark ambient music is used to create our subtly dynamic soundscape. An anachronistic blend of modern and outdated production as glitches and textural pads meet synthesis & sampling akin to a haunted recollection of 90s Unreal Engine soundtracks.

Indie Game Fan