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Press release:
Indie publisher Ratalaika Games joined forces with developer Steelkrill Studio to announce a dark and disturbing horror survival game – “Trenches“, set in WW1. Planned for release on the 20th January 2023 coming on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch, priced at $9.99 €9.41, its atmospheric setting is a stark reminder of a period that will send chills down your spine!

Death Walk Besides You

The word Trenches alone conjures up many negative views and the experience that is presented is one the development team has delved into in as much detail as possible to create the barren, isolating world of war and your one focus is on surviving!

Inspiration has come from reading about historic incidents, watching many documentaries, and a fascination for WW1, however, the development team pointed towards the awesome movie 1917 as a big determining factor. There is no getting away from the fact that “WW1 is often forgotten as to how brutal it was”, was a stand out comment.

The Game!

Trenches begins when the soldier you play wakes up from a blast and sees everything in ruins. He reaches into his pocket and finds the picture of his family. He knows that he must try to survive if he ever wants to see them again. From there, your objective will be to escape the claustrophobic environment and experience the war from the eyes of a soldier caught behind enemy lines, in this surreal nightmare, as you fight for your life (and sanity) to get back home to your family.

Surviving

The only way to escape is by finding clues and objectives scattered around the Trench map which will be like a maze. These objectives will be randomised on each play-through so all will be different. The player needs to be focused as a monster will be following him and will be roaming around the Trenches. The player can use a “trench whistle” which, when used, players can hear a crying sound and they need to follow the crying sound to find the next clue. However, the catch is the monster can also hear the trench whistle and comes running at you.

Enemies will also be able to hear if you walk on wood as it will make creaking noises or if you break any bottles. Alongside that, there will be other things that can aid you in the game such as Wire Cutters, Gun, Map, etc. which can help.. if you find them.

Does Another Dawn Beckon?

The atmospheric ambience of the game is heightened by attention to detail of light and textures, as the developer explained:

“We wanted to make players feel like they really were stuck in the Trenches and to feel helpless and lost at all times. The gritty atmosphere helped, but also sounds and environment plays a big part too. We focused a lot on creating the right environment and since the game takes place only in the trenches, we could focus on those little extra details when it comes to the graphics.”

Features and Gameplay Elements Include:

Randomised actions and scares

Every changing setting, puzzles and challenges.

Freedom to explore

Lots of objectives to find

Two game modes

Surprises galore…………

There will be many challenges that the player will face in Trenches.

Will you survive!??

About Steelkrill Studio:
Located in Europe and managed by one developer, Ryan Portelli – Steelkrill Studio is an independent 3D video game developer, publisher and asset developer focusing mostly on computer games and assets for developers that will drastically speeds up your time for game development.

Steelkrill Studio is an independent 3D video game developer, publisher and asset developer that is managed by one developer. Ever since a young age I always wanted to be a game developer, however life problems got in the way and unfortunately, could not do what I love since I got busy juggling between jobs. I started creating game assets and full complete games for developers for small side income to support myself. That is when I started learning with the Unity game engine. In 2020, Steelkrill Studio was formed and started working on a full game and it was the first released paid game on steam by Steelkrill Studio.

Now stepping my foot in creating full video games and currently working on new game projects. Games take up time, budget and lots of work to do and unfortunately working between jobs and working around the clock to try and support may get into the way of game development. Creating assets helped me keep on learning about game development and luckily now Steelkrill is back on track and is releasing full games! Your support is very welcome, even a small share would do a big difference in helping out!

Steelkrill Studio thanks you for reading – you’re all amazing for taking the time to know about my small “studio” 🙂

About Ratalaika Games:
Ratalaika Games S.L. is a video game company focused on porting & publishing great games to the console market.

We publish and port games for all consoles including Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.

Our main objective is entertainment, so come play with us!