Space Beast Terror Fright

Space Beast Terror Fright

Released Jun 2022

S.B.T.F. is a very hard arcade-style / rogue-like / perma-death first person shooter. You play as Marines who must brave dark, claustrophobic and terrifyingly intense Space Beast infested spacecraft in order to extract critical data and lucrative upgrades. Can you make it out alive?

91% positive · 1,794 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence

Where to buy

Steam $14.99
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

Space Beast Terror Fright spent over seven years in Early Access before officially launching on June 3, 2022. Shortly after launch, the developer (nornware AB, a solo developer known as "johno") posted Update 62 on September 9, 2022, which introduced "Grind Mode" — and explicitly stated in that post that this update "serves as the official end of development of Space Beast Terror Fright (excluding of course future quality of life changes / bugfixes)." True to that statement, subsequent updates have been maintenance and quality-of-life in nature. Update 63 (November 5, 2023) was described as a "general maintenance and compatibility update." Update 64 (June 13, 2024) introduced a new Mission of the Day calendar system — a notable quality-of-life addition, though the developer framed it as an "overlay" and "experiment" rather than a new content commitment. Update 65 (March 20, 2025), the most recent communication from the developer, was again described as a "general maintenance and compatibility update." The developer clearly and explicitly declared the end of content development in September 2022, with all subsequent updates aligning with the promised post-launch maintenance posture. There is no announced future content, no unreleased DLC, and no indication the developer has changed this position.
Evidence
Update 62 post explicitly states: 'This update also serves as the official end of development of Space Beast Terror Fright (excluding of course future quality of life changes / bugfixes).'
news post · Sep 9, 2022 source development ending
high
Developer's post marking the exit from Early Access reflects on the long development journey and expresses readiness to move on, noting 'there are still so many games left to make.'
news post · Jun 4, 2022 source development ending
medium

Media

Details

Developer
Publisher
nornware AB
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows
Controller
partial support
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player · Multiplayer · Co-op · Local/Split Screen

About this game

S.B.T.F. is a very hard arcade-style / rogue-like / perma-death first person shooter. You play as Marines who must brave dark, claustrophobic and terrifyingly intense Space Beast infested spacecraft in order to extract critical data and lucrative upgrades. Can you make it out alive?

The game revolves around the concept of a procedurally generated maze-like spacecraft which is unique each time, within which the Marines must search out DataCores to be downloaded. The spacecraft are infested with Beasts that are extremely lethal, and the Marines must brave these dark and hostile environments in order to complete the objective of retrieving all critical data and ultimately setting the Reactor core to overload.

Aside from either all purpose automatic Rifles or powerful Shotguns, the Marines initially only have a rudimentary Tracker device that detects nearby motion as well as the distance to the nearest DataCore. The DataCores can however contain lucrative Upgrades that will empower the Marines with better ammunition, a better motion tracker, and other useful functionality that will significantly increase the chances of survival.

Key to managing the unknown spaces within each spacecraft is the intelligent use of Doors, sealing of sections behind the team in order to keep from being overwhelmed from several directions at once. Closing Doors controls the space, but they also make it harder to flee if the need should arise.

Additionally, automated Sentry robots are scattered throughout the spacecraft, and these can be activated in order to further aid in stemming the never ending tide of Space Beasts. Sentries offer a significant amount of additional firepower, and can often be the difference between life and death when the Marines are being overwhelmed. While Sentries are programmed to avoid firing when Marines stray are in their field of fire, friendly fire incidents can still happen.

Once all DataCores have been retrieved, the final objective is to disable all Reactor Coolants in order to destroy the spacecraft. Once this is done the Marines only have 90 seconds to find their way back to the Airlock for extraction before the Reactor overloads, obliterating the spacecraft and everything aboard.

Space Beast Terror Fright employs both procedural level generation as well as a procedurally arranged music scoring. Audio and visuals are all tightly synced to the action in order to deliver a super-intense combat experience that feels like an awesome action movie.

Both local and networked co-op play are supported, with 1-4 players via keyboard / mouse and XBox 360 game controllers. Both local and networked play allow viewing all of the action via split-screen.

If you want to try out a demo of the game you can download a .zip file here: Space Beast Terror Fright Demo. This demo is our original Greenlight submission and does not represent the current state of the game, but it should give you a basic sense of what the game is about. The .zip does not contain an installer, so you might have to manually install DirectX9.0c in order to run the game. See further instructions about where you can get DirectX9.0c at the bottom of this page: nornware.
Last evaluated Jun 28, 2026
Something about this evaluation looks wrong Report illegal or harmful content