Dark Lessons

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• Announcements·12 Jun 2026Official

  The Candles are Burning ... Thanks for Playing the Demo!

  Hi!On June 1st, I invited you to step into Mrs Glower's chambers and get a first glimpse of my Lovecraftian horror game Dark Lessons. Releasing the demo was at least as terrifying for me as playing it may have been for the more faint-hearted among you. It's been a huge milestone for me, and in my mind's eye, I was going through all the things that might go wrong ...I want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who played, streamed or has already sent me feedback on the demo! Please know that I read and consider every single piece of feedback and watch the streams of people playing Dark Lessons to see what I can improve.If you haven't yet found time to play, the demo will be waiting for you right here on Steam: And if you've played but haven't shared your thoughts, there is still time! Let me know what you liked and what was lacking via my feedback form: https://forms.gle/F6zyZeZD1cAQtQ8SA. Of course, you can also join my Discord and talk to me directly there.How the Launch Went: Light and ShadowEleven days in, the demo has been downloaded around 1,500 times, and 280 people have played it. This may not sound like a lot, but for a first-time solo dev like me, it's amazing to think that ten school rooms full people have joined my little afterschool session.Most of your feedback so far has been really positive, and the way a dedicated few of you have been cheering me on and supporting me has been a huge motivator. Luckily, there haven't been a lot of bugs besides some collision issues and a rare interface bug (which is now fixed) that were plaguing some players. The more critical feedback has revolved around missing guidance and progression blocks for one of the puzzles, as well as about the demo still feeling a bit short and leaving you wanting more. What's Next: The Ritual Has Just BegunI'm taking your feedback to heart and will continue to improve and expand the demo experience over the next months. At the same time, I'm itching to bring the remaining game world to l...
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• Announcements·1 Jun 2026Official

  Dark Lessons Demo is now LIVE!

  Hi everyone,After countless late nights, I’ve just hit the button: The official demo for Dark Lessons, my Lovecraftian horror game where you need to escape your teacher’s house, is now live on Steam!Sharing this with you means a lot to me as a solo developer. I’m incredibly excited (and a little nervous!) to see so many people pick up the candle and step into my game for the first time.What’s Waiting for YouIn this roughly 30-minute slice of the game, you’ll get a first taste of the curriculum:The mystery of Mrs. Glower: What started as an innocent afterschool visit has turned into a nightmare. A sudden blackout has left you trapped, and the house feels ... different.A low-poly aesthetic that pays homage to the golden age of psychological horror.Puzzles and exploration: Use your wits and your inventory to unearth your teacher’s dark secrets and find a way out.Immersive sound: An adaptive soundscape designed to keep you on the edge of your seat.The demo features remappable controls, and includes localized subtitles for English, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese.I’d Love to Hear From YouSince this is the first time Dark Lessons is out in the wild, your feedback is gold. Once you’ve finished the demo (or if you get stuck!), come say hi:Share your thoughts here in the Steam Discussions.Join my Discord to chat with me and other players directly.Find me on Bluesky for more updates.If you enjoy the experience, please consider sharing the Steam link with friends or your favorite streamers. Every wishlist and every mention helps a solo project like this more than you know.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Now, good luck with your "afterschool visit"—I hope you make it out in one piece!Best,Robert
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• Announcements·4 May 2026Official

  Demo Coming June 1st!

  Hi there,It's been ages since the last update, but today, I've got the next big milestone to share with you:The Dark Lessons demo will release on Steam on June 1st 2026 — just under a month away!Of course, I'll post an event as soon as the demo has launched. So, if you're already following Dark Lessons, you don’t need to do anything right now. You can just sit back and keep an eye out for my next update.However, if you would like to help or get involved, here's what you can do:I'll run a small playtest in two or three weeks just to make sure the demo launch goes as smoothly as possible. Let me know if you're interested in participating.If you haven't already, it helps enormously if you wishlist Dark Lessons right here on Steam, as this will directly impact the game's visibility leading up to the launch.You can follow me on Bluesky or join my Discord, both of which will become more active as the demo launch approaches.If you really like Dark Lessons, feel free to share the links to my Steam page or socials with friends who might also enjoy the game.That's it for today, but I'll be in touch again soon!
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• Announcements·30 Nov 2025Official

  Beta Roundup

  Hi,It's been over a month since I ran the Beta for my horror adventure game Dark Lessons, so I thought I'd give you a roundup of how it went.At the risk of repeating myself, let me start by giving my heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the Beta! Without exception, you've been gracious, encouraging and, when things didn't work as expected, patient and polite. I don't take this for granted. While there was a fair share of critical feedback, too, the only issue I've got with that is that I tend to agree with most of it — which means there's more work ahead. 😵‍💫The Numbers35 people played the Beta, and 18 of you sent me written feedback via my form. In addition, I got to watch 7 people play live while sitting next to them and taking notes like a mad scientist watching their victims subjects.First, the good news: Everyone who submitted feedback would recommend Dark Lessons to a friend, though I feel like you (yes, you!) were being a bit polite. I'll also say that one of the people who gave a score of 10 wrote that he did so because I'm his brother, so maybe I shouldn't include family in the score next time ...Good news is boring though. Off to a brutally-honest look at the things I still need to work on:PerformanceSome of you experienced serious performance issues. I previously thought I'd done a lot of optimization. Alas, what a fool I was! I took another deep dive and found that the game handled materials very poorly. After removing redundant textures, Dark Lessons now needs 30 % less disk space and VRAM. Another performance boost resulted from switching from Godot Engine's default physics engine to Jolt. Some of you have retested an updated version and reported notably smoother gameplay. So: Yay!Where's the fear factor?Interestingly, even though everyone said they'd recommend the game to a friend, a majority of players didn't find it scary enough. This also matches my observation during live playtests that players who weren't really into horror tended to ...
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• Announcements·18 Sept 2025Official

  Free Beta Starting in 2 Weeks

  Hi, This is just a reminder that on 2nd October, two weeks from today (depending on your time zone), the free Beta playtest for my horror adventure Dark Lessons will start.If you'd like to participate, please sign up to my newsletter below.Sign up for the Beta
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