The Artifact Protocol (2025)

Developer: Liam MW Butler
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Action, Adventure, Indie, Strategy
Rating: 4.0 of 5, 10 player ratings
Typical playtime: about 3.3 hours
Where to get it: Steam

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A tense, immersive first-person experience where you relive the final moments of another person's life through trapped artifacts.

psychological horrorfirst-personatmospherictenseimmersivenarrative-drivenunsettlingreflective

What players say

Players describe it as five distinct horror experiences in one package, each with its own story and tension. The game is dialogue-heavy and demanding – failure sends you back to the start, and the lack of checkpoints frustrates some, especially in chapter 4. Player opinions split on whether the gameplay is cleverly challenging or punishingly obtuse.

Screenshots

More games like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.