Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Mayfly
Backyard Zoo · Published by Backyard Zoo
Content notice: Themes of isolation and loneliness. Some references to depression, mourning and loss
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Mayfly is an eerie story-based quiet horror set aboard a narrowboat in Northern England. Upon waking alone to find your husband is missing you find yourself weaving through a shifting, unstable reality as you search your confined surroundings in this focussed narrative exploration game.
Adventure, Indie · 2027 · More free games
Wander through a shifting reality aboard a narrowboat in Mayfly, an eerie 2027 indie adventure by Backyard Zoo. Discover the unsettling story of a husband’s disappearance as you navigate your confined surroundings.
About this game
"I'm sorry Robert, I can't wait here forever. I have to find a way to leave this place"
You are Caroline Miller. You find yourself on a narrowboat. The doors are locked. Your husband is missing. You're desperate to find him, but this place will not let you leave...
Mayfly is a 'quiet' story-rich psychological horror where you must navigate your way through unstable and ever-shifting realities, finding clues and solving puzzles to piece together a deeply compelling mystery.
You awaken on a bright summer morning, unexpectedly alone. Your husband Robert is nowhere to be found. You wonder where he could be. Attempting to leave the bedroom you find the door mysteriously locked. There's no way out.
As you await Robert's return you begin to notice a slow unravelling of your surroundings, of reality itself. It slowly dawns on you that something is very, very wrong.
Constantly shifting realities: A ‘reality collapse’ mechanic punctuates the unfolding horror, transforming your environment as you progress, leaving you constantly guessing what will happen next.
Short and sweet: Mayfly is a short psychological horror experience focused on deep exploration, slow-burn narrative and a disquieting atmosphere. It's designed to be completed in under two hours.
Story-rich: Mayfly features a densely packed, highly explorable narrowboat environment. You can explore as much, or as little as you desire. As well as notes and collectable items, there's also an abundance of objects in the game which contain 'story interactions' plus a raft of hidden clues for players with a keen eye.
Highly explorable and ever-changing: Search a richly detailed narrowboat setting which constantly changes. Items mysteriously vanish and re-appear, objects change positions and environment lighting shifts. The deeper you venture, the harder it becomes to trust what you see.
Optional side-quests and collectables: For players who wish to 'go deep' there are several optional puzzles and tasks to complete.
Challenging puzzles: A series of varied puzzles to solve as you weave your way through an ever-changing environment.
Emotional text: Emotive text-based 'story interactions' reveal Caroline's inner state of mind, adding a subtle layer of psychological exploration and expression.
Context-specific story: Inspect the many available story interaction items to reveal additional lore - which changes and adapts along with Caroline's state of mind.
Emotional reactions: Emotional intensity is also presented through interactions; happiness, fear, confusion and anger are all depicted along with differing ranges of intensity depending on events within the game.
Professional voice acting: Voice actor and award winning singer songwriter Tammy King plays the role of Caroline Miller.
Original soundtrack: Featuring a vast range of music, from delicate piano melodies to harsh otherwordly drones, Mayfly's soundtrack draws you in to the unfolding horror.
Layered 3D audio design: Headphones recommended! Utilising a deep, layered audio soundscape you'll want to make sure you don't miss some of the more subtle whispers, bumps and bangs occurring just within earshot.
Lo-fi visuals: A gentle pixelated aesthetic.
90s English vibes: Set in the late 1990s in the North-West of England, Mayfly is packed with northern charm and contains lots of subtle references to British popular culture. How many can you find?
Retro UI: A user interface which gently evokes feelings of gaming nostalgia, with an added layer of modern polish.
* Mayfly has been fully tested with USB-connected XBox & PlayStation controllers and is also Steam Deck compatible.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti or AMD Radeon HD 6770
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
The NEW extended Mayfly demo is now live!
The mystery begins... The first Mayfly demo was an amazing insight into how the game would be played, and how it would be received by you, the players. I took the opportunity to work the most prevalent feedback into a NEW demo build and I'm delighted to finally release it. It's a huge improvement over the first demo.Average play time is now 32 minutesOne of the most common pieces of feedback was that Mayfly was simply too short and ended just as players were getting into it. This new demo's length has now nearly tripled over the first iteration.Reality collapse mechanicMy absolute favourite feature of the new Mayfly demo is the reality collapse mechanic, which now punctuates the horror. One of the most exciting things from watching gameplay streams of the first demo was how the subtle changes really resonated with a large subset of players. Reality is now constantly shifting, meaning objects appear, disappear and move around every time reality collapses, as well as more obvious changes in the lighting and environment.More puzzles and more challengeMayfly is my first ever game and so I really struggled managing the difficulty. I was initially afraid of players getting stuck so I perhaps hand-held players through the puzzles more than I should have. That's fixed now, and I've also added a few brand new puzzles.As well as the above, there are also some other nice new features which make the new Mayfly demo even more immersive:Notes and collectables are now fully inspectable both in-game and via the inventoryStory-pacing is on-point. The reality collapse mechanic has one major bonus, it allows the story time to breathe. By pacing the manifestation of certain items and collectables the natural lack of space is no longer a hindrance to the slow-burn narrativeEmotive 'Story interactions' pack in a tonne of background lore and add emotional intensity to various items and objects around the boat.Music! A beautiful piano intro features during the first portion of gameplayNew ...Read full article on Community Announcements (backyardzoo)AnnouncementsOfficial
NEW Mayfly Demo Coming Soon!
April was a big month for Mayfly. Firstly, I think it's worth saying, this is my first ever game, and it's a solo development project. It's around four years in the making so far - and I've loved making it, but I never anticipated the sheer amount of work this would take. Actions from the first demo The first Mayfly demo launched on the 10 April and though it was absolutely terrifying putting it out there for the first time, I have to say it went better than I expected. That being said your feedback is taken very seriously and I always listen to what you have to say, so I've addressed the following in time for the next demo: Less passivity in the puzzles ... and more of themA fair few of you felt the first demo was a little too generous with its assistance in the puzzles, as well as also making you feel like somewhat of a passenger. This was a conscious decision at the time but I do realise it doesn't really work as well as I'd hoped. So, the puzzles and triggered events now require a much more active role, and it really has made a huge difference. On top of this, there are now more puzzles. Around three times as many! Demo lengthThe first demo was short, around twelve minutes or so on average. The next demo will be hopefully at least double that.This means it'll still be the entire first scene of Mayfly, but with a massive increase in the depth. What's very exciting is you now get the torch (flashlight) in Scene 1, where currently you had to wait until Scene 2. Things are going to get a lot darker in the new demo! New featuresMusic!Mayfly now has music - a wonderfully dark ambient soundtrack to really underpin the tension and emotion. Story pacing massively improvedWatching the streams and play-throughs was incredible, but one thing which was bothering me was that the plot just dropped everything all at once. I hated that because it just didn't fit the experience I wanted to create. I've found a really useful way to naturally pace the game in such a way that it hel...Read full article on Community Announcements (backyardzoo)
