Berenhardt It’s autumn again—that time of year when things can get a little spookier. The grey skies and early sunsets make for the perfect backdrop to give myself a good scare. So, I was pretty excited to try out Captured, an indie horror title by Puck Games, on PlayStation 5.
Full disclosure: I’m not the biggest horror gamer out there, but I can certainly appreciate a good one. I loved Until Dawn, and way back in the day I used to enjoy watching Let’s Plays of Outlast.
The setup for Captured is deceptively simple. You start in your old childhood bedroom—until, in the blink of an eye, it becomes something just slightly… off. Your light switches are gone, the room is shrouded in darkness, and armed with only a camera and a flashlight, you set out to discover what the hell happened to your house.
A demonic, distorted voice instructs you to explore and document anything that doesn’t belong. A table stuck to the ceiling, a glowing toilet, a door that suddenly leads to a swimming pool complex—nothing is too bizarre. Your job is to film and categorize these “anomalies”. With over 90 of them to find, each run feels different. And yes—this game has runs. You’ll need to detect and log a set number of anomalies to escape the loop. Fail, and you’re thrown right back to the start. A creepy, domestic rogue-lite horror game—words I never thought I’d write in the same sentence.
The game opens strong with some genuinely impressive visuals. Say what you want about Unreal Engine 5 but Captured makes fantastic use of it—lighting and textures are near photorealistic. Unfortunately, that immersion didn’t last long for me due to the controls and camera movement. To be fair, the game does warn you about potential motion sickness, and yep—I got hit with it. Props to the developer, though, for including customizable settings to reduce the discomfort. After some tweaking, things became much more manageable.
As you play, Captured lulls you into a false sense of security. You start thinking you’ve got the hang of spotting anomalies… until the developer decides to humble you by throwing in some terrifying entities. I won’t spoil what they are—half the fun (and horror) comes from figuring out how to deal with these demonic intruders yourself.
I’ll admit, a few of those encounters genuinely made me jump—always a good sign in a horror game. In that regard, Puck Games absolutely nailed the atmosphere. However, a layer of RNG sometimes made the experience feel unfair. The random placement of enemies, a sprint that doesn’t quite feel like sprinting, and the lack of clear guidance on how to handle threats can get frustrating—especially when dying means restarting your entire run. Expect at least one rage quit.
All in all, Captured is absolutely worth checking out. The developer steadily unveils the story piece by piece, the atmosphere is deliciously unsettling (preferably without motion sickness), and the replayability is strong thanks to the sheer number of anomalies to uncover. I’ve had my dose of horror for the year—but come next autumn, I’ll gladly dive back into another one.
Conclusion
Captured is a cleverly designed indie horror experience that blends eerie domestic familiarity with nightmarish unpredictability. It’s rough around the edges, but when it works, it really works. If you’re looking for a short, unnerving horror game to fill your spooky season, this one’s definitely worth your time.
Additional Information
Release Date: Oct 30, 2025
Reviewed On: PS5. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Puck Games
Publisher: Perp Games
Relevant links: Captured on PlayStation Store
DaRmaZat 
