Paranormal
Early access since Sep 2013
Experience the horrors of a haunting that's never the same twice. Paranormal is a 3D fully dynamic haunting experience. The player takes the role of Mattel Clarke, an artist who has a haunted house. Mattel decides to film the hauntings with his camera, which is the viewpoint of the game.
55% positive · 528 reviews
Not yet
In early access, content planned but development status unclear
Low confidence
Content Planned
Development Uncertain
Not yet
In early access, content planned but development status unclear
Low confidence
Content Planned
Development Uncertain
Where to buy
Steam $9.99
Can't confirm — worth a look
We couldn't confirm these stores carry this game.
Green Man Gaming Steam key Search IndieGala Steam key Search Prices in USD, as listed by each store.
Buying through an affiliate store helps support the site
Evaluation
Paranormal has been in Early Access since September 12, 2013. It has received 13 patches over the years, with the most recent arriving on November 19, 2018. That final patch — part of an ongoing Unreal Engine 4 rebuild effort — explicitly described the game as still a work-in-progress, with the story not fully implemented, more scares planned, and more environmental interaction to be added. The developer also promised more frequent future updates in that post, a commitment that went unfulfilled.
There has been no developer communication of any kind since November 19, 2018 — a silence of over seven years as of June 2026. The game's store page continues to list unimplemented planned features (VR support, achievements, full controller support, cloud saves, and translations), reinforcing that the game was never completed. The developer never announced a 1.0 release, never declared development finished, and never issued a statement explaining the extended silence. The game remains purchasable and listed as Early Access on Steam.
Given the explicit unfinished state of the game as of the last update, the long list of still-unimplemented features, and the complete absence of developer communication since November 2018, it is uncertain whether development is still ongoing or has been quietly abandoned.
Evidence
Patch #13 released as part of the ongoing UE4 rebuild. Developer explicitly states the game is still a work-in-progress, that story is not fully implemented, more scares are planned, and that more frequent updates will be coming. This is the last known communication from the developer.
Developer describes remaining work: full story plot not yet implemented, significantly more scares needed, and more environmental interaction to be added — confirming the game is incomplete.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Matt Cohen
Achievements
1
Platform
Windows, macOS
Controller
partial support
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player
About this game
Experience the horrors of a haunting that's never the same twice.
Paranormal is a 3D fully dynamic haunting experience. The player takes the role of Mattel Clarke, an artist who has a haunted house. Mattel decides to film the hauntings with his camera, which is the viewpoint of the game.The player controls the camera as the hauntings slowly but surely escalate into something far worse and more horrific.
With multiple endings, a different experience every time, top-notch graphics and sound, Paranormal is a constantly evolving indie horror game.
Paranormal is a 3D fully dynamic haunting experience. The player takes the role of Mattel Clarke, an artist who has a haunted house. Mattel decides to film the hauntings with his camera, which is the viewpoint of the game.The player controls the camera as the hauntings slowly but surely escalate into something far worse and more horrific.
With multiple endings, a different experience every time, top-notch graphics and sound, Paranormal is a constantly evolving indie horror game.
Features
- Dynamic Haunting: I've designed the dynamic haunting system that will allow a randomized experience, adding multiple outcomes, dynamic triggers, countless variables, and an action-reaction system. This will make your experience with the game much more unique and memorable, without missing out on anything important.
- Free Content Updates: Paranormal will receive free content updates that add new locations, stories, scenarios, scares, gameplay mechanics, and more! You will NEVER have to pay for DLC in Paranormal. The game's content is planned to double or even triple with each major content update.
- Sleep System: Sleeping in your bed recharges your camera's batteries and also has a chance of triggering other events.
- Flashlight (camera light): Creates a bright, short ranged light that casts dynamic shadows.
- Insane Sound Design: Paranormal was designed for surround sound and headphones to create the ultimate audio horror experience.
- First-Person Camera (Found-footage style): Much like in the movies 'Paranormal Activity' or 'The Blair Witch Project' (Not associated with those films, just inspired by them), the viewpoint will be that of a camera being held by a person (the player). Effects like camera shake, pixelation, video distortion, audio distortion, and motion blur will all be present thanks to the camera screen-space shader I built for everything.
- Horrific Story: Uncover the house's troubled and gruesome past through hauntings, journal entries from the previous owner, and more.
- Steam Trading Cards: Because one can never have enough of those things!
- Mac Version: A Mac version is available and will receive updates alongside the PC version.
Planned Future Features
- Achievements: Steam Achievements are planned for the game and there will be plenty to chase after!
- Full Controller Support: Work has already started on making the game fully gamepad-compatible.
- VR Support: Paranormal will receive Virtual Reality support, free to owners of the game.
- Steam Cloud Saves: For those who hop between machines.
- Translations: The game's text is planned to be translated into German, Swedish, and Spanish. If your language isn't on that list, please request it in the forums.
- Persistence: Some sort of persistent scoring system is planned, adding more replay value.
- Unreal Engine 4 Remake: The entire game is in the process of being remade using Unreal Engine 4. This remake will be available as a free update to owners of the game.
Posting Videos
All users have full permission to post videos of Paranormal to websites, monetize them, edit them, etc. In fact, I encourage this. The only thing I ask (but don't require) is that you send me a link so I can watch it and share it! A healthy game community encourages shared experiences. If your video gets flagged by YouTube for copyrighted content, Tweet me and I'll do everything in my power to help clear it up--even if I have to call YouTube.Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 28, 2026
Something about this evaluation looks wrong Report illegal or harmful content