First of all, thank you for checking out our game! In this post, we’d like to introduce the concept behind Echoes in the Dark and a bit about ourselves.
THE CONCEPT
Echoes in the Dark is a horror FPS with a unique twist: monsters only move when you do. Every step you take matters, so you'll need to stay sharp and listen carefully to your surroundings. If you're aware and cautious, especially for the environment around you, you have a greater chance to survive.
Our goal is to create a horror experience that blends strategic movement, limited resources, and deep atmosphere.
You play as a police officer sent to investigate a mysterious emergency call.
But when you arrive, you find only an abandoned graveyard swallowed by shadows (and something waiting for you in the dark).
BEGINNINGS & ABOUT THE TEAM
My name is Martin Demeter (the guy on the left). Game development isn’t what I studied at university, I graduated as an economist... but it’s something I learned through YouTube and online courses.
I’ve made a few short games before, which were all challenging, but this game is on a whole new level. The first version was made for a monthly game jam with the theme “FEAR”. Initially, I wanted to make a typical FPS with scary moments… but then I thought, aren’t there already hundreds of games like this? That’s when the movement-based combat concept came to mind. Something that would make players approach horror in a new way.
I also want to mention Krisztina Horváth, my amazing girlfriend, game tester and emotional support. She has been with me at every expo, playtested the game, and motivates me every time I need it! I can’t thank her enough.
The response from the jam community was really encouraging. And honestly, I’ve always wanted to make a horror game. Something that could pull different emotions out of the player, not just fear, but curiosity, tension, and relief.
After the jam, I took the game to an expo called PlayIT (similar to ComicCon). That’s where I met Szabolcs Tóth (buddy on the right in the team photo), a professional game programmer. He loved the concept, and we decided to team up.
Since then, we’ve been working together in our free time, usually 1–3 hours after our full-time jobs. Szabi handles complex systems and performance, while I focus on game design, marketing, and simpler coding tasks. We’ve become a great team. Pushing each other, fixing bugs, celebrating successes, and laughing (or facepalming) when things go wrong ːsteamfacepalmː
OUR MISSION
We want to create a horror experience that’s unique, genuinely scary, and thought-provoking. Not just fear, but curiosity, tension, and relief. We want players to forget the real world for a couple of hours.
Of course, development hasn’t been smooth. Bugs have sent players falling through the map, losing guns, or getting stuck in strange ways. My favorite story: at an expo, a player was enjoying the environment and tension… until he asked, “When will I meet the first monster?” We realized that, somehow, all monsters had been deactivated... and locked doors opened randomly because enemies had triggered them unexpectedly.
Despite these hiccups, the feedback was amazing. People loved the concept, got scared, laughed, and strategized. Exactly the emotions we wanted to create! It gave us even more motivation to keep going.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Our next milestone is to polish the demo, add more content, and get ready to showcase it at festivals, online and offline.
We’re happy to say that a free demo is live on Steam, waiting for you to try it out! Your feedback is highly appreciated and will help shape the game. You can share thoughts via:
Commenting on the Steam discussions page
Email: [email protected]
The short feedback form that will soon be available in the game’s main menu
Every bit of feedback helps you become part of making this game!
Our next blog post will cover either the schedule of upcoming content releases or the game design challenges we’ve faced during development. We can’t wait to share more with you!
Thank you for reading and for joining us on this journey. We can’t wait to share more updates, surprises, and scares with you.
Stay sharp… and don’t move unless you have to.
Martin & the EITD Team