Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Lurking
Ctrl Freak · Published by Ctrl Freak
Content notice: Some blood, dead bodies and limbs can appear at various locations in the game.
Last updated 5 Sept 2026
Lurking is a first-person survival horror game set in a building infested by giant spiders. Search for tools and weapons to fight back and survive. Find a way out before you're eaten alive.
Action, Adventure, Indie · 2026 · More free games
About this game
Lurking is a first-person horror game set in a building infested by giant spiders. Search for tools and weapons to fight back and survive. Find a way out before you're eaten alive.
You love your pets. You take care of them. It’s the only thing in your life that still makes sense.
But what happens when they grow out of control... and begin lurking in the dark hallways of your apartment building?
Stay low. Stay quiet. Stick to the shadows. You’re trapped, but if you can keep it together, you might still find a way out.
If it bleeds, you can kill it.
But does it bleed?
Features
PSX-inspired pixelated visuals with a modern horror atmosphere
Approximately 2 hours of gameplay
Explore, solve puzzles, and find keys and tools to progress
Defend yourself with improvised, homemade weapons
Multiple endings based on your choices
Dynamic spider behavior that reacts to your actions
Procedural animation system for highly realistic spider movement
Credits: Key art by Alexis Bauzet. Trailer by Ben Jenkins.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
Recommended
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Minor bugfixes / QoL update to the demo
Hey all!Just made a small update to the demo (0.12.3) with fixes and QoL things: Fixed random fall damageFixed stuttering issue (I think - I used a poor man's solution as a temporary workaround before I implement a long-term solution)Fixed some interactions could leave the player stuck with disabled controlsFixed/improved ending trigger (both endings!)Made a few things more intuitive (map is more visible, first vent to open more visible,..) if you enjoyed the demo, please consider leaving a review, it helps a lot with visibility!Read full article on Community Announcements (schouffy)AnnouncementsOfficial
Demo releases today!
A massive THANK YOU to all of the early players (more than 15.000!) and the playtesters (150+!) for giving a try to the game and helping me improve it.I’ve been working hard in the past few months, and today I’m excited to announce the release of the demo for Lurking! If you’ve played the early itch.io demo back then, give it another shot: It is now much bigger and more polished.Here’s what to expect:40mn of content vs 10-12mn in the early demoSurvival-horror gameplay mechanicsMany QoL features and lots of added polish I hope you have a good time, and as always any feedback is useful and appreciated. There’s a survey link in the demo, but you can also leave feedback in Steam discussions or on Discord.And if you like the demo, please consider wishlisting the game to support me and get updates about its development. Cheers!JeromeRead full article on Community Announcements (schouffy)AnnouncementsOfficial
Demo drops on August 20th!
Thank you for the playtestAfter a few weeks of playtest, I'm happy with how the beginning of the game is turning out. Thank you to everyone who participated and gave valuable feedback. It helped immensely!!Demo announceI'm excited to announce that the Steam public demo will be available on August 20th. It will contain the first 40 or so minutes of the game.I'm absolutely not finished polishing stuff, but it's already in a good enough state that I felt confident sending demo keys to content creators and hopefully we'll be able to see some nice shorts and playthroughs around the release date.After the 20th, the demo will get a few updates to include stuff such as:Feedback you give meLocalizationController support, rebindable keysMore polishing & QoL features as I continue working on the full game 12.000 WishlistsI'm also thrilled because the game is closing in to 12.000 wishlists which is amazing at this stage of the development. Thanks to you all who wishlisted!Read full article on Community Announcements (schouffy)AnnouncementsOfficial
8,000 Wishlists! Thank you for the support!
Hello everyone!We’ve just hit a massive milestone: 8,000 wishlists for Lurking! A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the project so far. It means the world to us. Thank you!Want to stay in the loop? Join our official Discord community to get the latest updates on the upcoming playtest, demo, release date, and behind-the-scenes news: https://discord.gg/G3N4qGHPSnRead full article on Community Announcements (Chanel)AnnouncementsOfficial
Revealing Lurking steam page!
Hey there!I'm Jerome, solo dev at Ctrl Freak and I'd like to present my upcoming game Lurking.Lurking is a first-person horror game set in a building infested by giant spiders. Inspired by games like Amnesia the Bunker and early Resident Evil games, you need to search for tools and weapons to fight back and survive.It started as a little demo on itch.io that people really loved and I decided to make a full game out of it.You can expect:Approximately 2 hours of gameplayPSX/PS2 style graphicsA deeply unsettling atmosphereAwesome spider animationsWishlist the game to get news about its development, and to help me getting noticed by Steam algorithm.Read full article on Community Announcements (schouffy)
