Tales After Dark: Something Upstairs
A downloadable game for Windows
An episodic found-footage horror
A month ago I moved into the cheapest apartment I could find. Divorce. Debt. I just needed somewhere to disappear. The landlady said only one thing: "Don't go near the top floor."
The first week was quiet. Then the footsteps began — every night, at the same time, right above me. But the flat upstairs has been empty for half a year.
I started recording everything on my phone. In case something happens.
Features
- Short story-driven horror (~20–30 min)
- Found-footage / VHS aesthetic inspired
- Fully localized in 5 languages — English, Russian, German, Spanish, French
- A chase you won't forget
- Made by one person
Controls
- WASD — move · Mouse — look
- E / LMB — interact · F — flashlight
- Tab — phone · Shift — run
⚠️ Contains:
- sudden loud noises
- jump scares
- dark themes
⭐️ Enjoyed the game?
If you survived the night, please consider leaving a 5-star rating and a comment below! Every review helps a solo dev out immensely 💖
🐛 Found a Bug?
If you encounter any glitches, performance issues, or bugs, please drop a comment below with a brief description.
Your reports help make the game better for everyone 🛠️
Headphones recommended. Play in the dark.
Twitter/x
💬 Join the Community! Discuss theories, get sneak peeks of upcoming episodes, and report bugs on our Official Discord Server!
If you have problems with the passage, you can watch the video
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- 4,500+ Downloads & Episode 2 Progress Update!5 days ago
- 3,500 Downloads & Quick Lighting Patch!10 days ago
- 3,000 Downloads & New Update: Lighting, Softlocks & Performance Fixes!12 days ago
- 1,500 Downloads! Thank you so much! 🎉15 days ago
- 700+ Downloads & Chapter 2 Development Update! 🚀18 days ago
- Optimization Update: Bug Fixes, Smooth Performance & Polish!21 days ago
- Thank you for 100 Downloads! 🎉21 days ago
- Update v1.5: Bug Fixes & New Scene Added!22 days ago
Comments
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Pretty good game, had some creepy moments I enjoyed. Looking forward to seeing how these stories develop in the future.
can't wait for more stories.
Honest review: the game was alright. I think what took away from the horror aspects was just the lack of direction while playing the game.
very creepy short horror game. I am looking forward to playing more.
Thank you so much for playing and making a video! Glad you enjoyed the creepy atmosphere. More content is officially in the works! If you have a spare moment, leaving a 5-star rating on the game page would mean the world to me — it really helps with visibility!
Great game! Little puzzles to figure out where to go and an eerie back lore. Feedback; objectives would be good, possibly keeping text up to give the person time to read. I noticed it would cut off the text to the next dialogue if I moved passed certain points in the room. Overall, Enjoyed it! :)
Thank you for the great video, playout, and super valuable feedback! I've noted down the issue with dialogue text cutting off and the objective tracker request for future updates. If you have a second, dropping a 5-star rating on the page would be a huge help for the project! Thanks again for playing!
Will do. Thank you for creating a wicked cool game 🤙
Very creepy. That first THUNK from upstairs almost took me out xD
Thank you so much for playing and sharing your videos! I'm really glad you enjoyed the creepy atmosphere. If you have a spare moment, leaving a 5-star rating on the main page would mean the world to me — as an indie dev, it helps a ton with visibility!
Good Game 👍
Thank you so much for playing and sharing your videos! I'm really glad you enjoyed the creepy atmosphere. If you have a spare moment, leaving a 5-star rating on the main page would mean the world to me — as an indie dev, it helps a ton with visibility!
Muchas gracias! Thanks a lot for playing and for the video review! If you have a second, leaving a 5-star rating on the itch page would be a huge help for me as a solo dev!
Really nice short horror game! I think it could use a task list or something in case you miss the dialog but overall great job!
Thanks a lot for playing and for the video! That’s a great suggestion regarding the task list — a few players mentioned wanting an objective tracker if they miss dialogue, so I’ll definitely look into adding one for future updates and Episode 2. Glad you enjoyed it!
Looking forward for the next episodes! Really terrifying!
Thank you so much for the video and the support! Really happy it kept you on edge. Episode 2 is currently in active development, stay tuned!
Thank you so much! Really glad you liked it. Episode 2 is currently in the works, stay tuned!
Not bad! The diary did make the story much more creepy. Just the part of putting things on the shelf could be adjusted, but overall great job! :)
Thanks a lot for playing and sharing the video! 🖤 Really happy the diary hit the right creepy spot. I'll definitely look into tweaking the shelf interaction physics for the next update. Appreciate the feedback! :)
was genuinely terrified after i read the diary. overall a very good game
Mission accomplished! Haha, thank you so much! Really glad the diary set the mood. Thanks for playing!
This was a lot of fun, thank you for letting me know about it and sorry it took so long for me to make this video
No worries at all, man! I’m just really glad you enjoyed it and took the time to record a gameplay. Thanks a lot for the video and the support!
Overall solid game!
Thank you so much for the detailed and constructive feedback! 🖤
I’ve actually just pushed a patch that fine-tunes the overall lighting and fixes some of the dialogue/text timing and overlapping issues. The idea for an objective toggle/keybind is also super helpful — I'll definitely keep that in mind for upcoming updates and Episode 2! Thanks for playing and sharing the video!
buen juego
Thank you so much for playing and for sharing your video! Really glad you enjoyed the game!
I enjoyed this piece, hoping for more episodes. 🔥
Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed it. Episode 2 is already in active development, so stay tuned for more!
Thanks a lot for the support and for sharing your gameplay video! Really appreciate it!
so sorry to how passive aggressive i was near the ending, i really did enjoy the game 😭😭😭
Haha no worries at all! Horror games are meant to test people's patience sometimes, so it's completely understandable. I'm just super glad you enjoyed the overall game! Thanks for playing and posting the video!
juegazo indie de terror! me ha encantado
That neighboor was a friendly guy he was saying Hi and the he decided to attack me on the hallway
Classic bait-and-switch! He was just trying to be hospitable... until he wasn't. Thanks for playing and sharing your video!
Hey, appearance can be very deceiving! He just wanted a quick chat in the hallway... with his fists. Thanks for playing and posting the playthrough!
Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for sharing your gameplay!
THIS GAME IS ACC PEAKK!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the support and for posting your playthrough! Glad you enjoyed it!
Is "Tales After Dark: Something Upstairs" coming to Steam in the future or no?
Yes, absolutely! My main goal right now is to release the game on Steam.
I’ve opened a donation goal here on itch.io to raise funds for the Steam Direct fee. If you’d like to help bring the game to Steam faster, any support or donation means the world! Stay tuned for updates!
love the games
Thank you so much for playing and for sharing your video! Really glad you loved it!
A short and simple horror game, but the atmosphere works really well. It managed to make me nervous a few times, and a couple of the jumpscares genuinely got me. A fun little horror experience!
Короткий и довольно простой хоррор, но атмосфера здесь работает отлично. Несколько раз игра действительно заставила меня понервничать, а пара скримеров смогла неплохо напугать. Хороший небольшой хоррор!
Большое спасибо за отзыв и за видос! Очень рад, что атмосфера сработала как надо и получилось заставить понапрягаться. Удачи с каналом!
fun game, it had an abrupt ending though
Thanks for playing and sharing your video! Yeah, the ending was meant to be a sudden cliffhanger for Episode 1, but I'm working on continuing the story in Episode 2 to give a proper resolution. Appreciate the feedback!
Glad you had fun! Thanks a lot for playing and sharing your video here, really appreciate it!
I liked the premise of the game, the reason why we are there, and how it ended!
I think the only complaints I have are when a dialogue is playing, some sections cut it off then & the starting screen; I couldn't tell if it was manually skipped or auto because sometimes it sits there until I press space or left click, then when I try to skip, it auto skips 2 pieces of dialogue.
Other than that, I really liked this one!
Thanks for the 7/10 and the awesome feedback, LennoxInsane!
Really appreciate you pointing out the issues with dialogue cutting off and the double-skipping bug — that’s super helpful info, and I’ll get that fixed up in the next patch so the story flow is smoother. Glad you enjoyed the premise and ending! Thanks for playing and posting your video!
YES! I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY MORE!:D
The game was very dark, but that's my only criticism. I'm sure you worked very hard on it. Solid jump scare for sure.
Thank you so much for playing and for sharing your video! I really appreciate the kind words. I'm actually working on a lighting update right now to fix the darkness issues, so stay tuned! Glad the jump scare hit the spot
Got softlocked 4 times within 20 minutes of playing. It's often very hard to tell what to do and the game's very dark - even on max brightness. Will have to search up the ending. Did enjoy it for how long it was playable, but I hope the next episodes are going to improve.
Hi Magiczebraa, thanks for giving the game a shot and for the honest feedback! I’m really sorry about the softlocks and the dark screen — fixing both lighting and those progression bugs is my main priority for the upcoming patch. Glad you still enjoyed parts of it, and I'll make sure future episodes are much more polished!
I NEED MORE OF THIS
Hell yeah! Thank you so much for the hyping comment and for recording your play! Episode 2 and further updates are currently in the works, so more is definitely coming!
A decent horror experience, not sure why our characters was so dead set on checking the upstairs door, is there no common sense in these lands?
Haha, that's classic horror logic for you! Without a little curiosity (and lack of common sense), we wouldn't have a game. Thanks for playing and sharing your video, I really appreciate the support!
This game was so good here is my gameplay please feel free to give me a like and follow if you enjoyed it would really help my small channel thanks:3
Thank you so much for playing, Bella! Glad you enjoyed the game, and thanks for sharing your walkthrough here! Best of luck with growing your channel!
I appreciate all the lore and story that was put into this little game, it truly brought it all together. This was my first empty apartment game and now I'm a huge fan. I hope more come
Thank you so much, Dee! I'm really glad you enjoyed the story and lore — putting the plot together was one of my favorite parts of making this. It means a lot to hear that this game made you a fan of the genre! More updates and story continuation are definitely on the way. Thanks for playing and sharing your gameplay!
Hey ChillPad Gamer! Thank you for the awesome review and for recording a playthrough! I hear you on the length — Episode 1 was meant to set up the mood, but I'm working hard on expanding the world and story for Episode 2. You’ll definitely find out more about what’s actually happening in that apartment! Stay tuned