Developer BloodEater Games and web3 gaming publisher Uprising Labs have teased the launch of Chapter 1 for NightSpawn, which seems to have been rescheduled from its late October Halloween release, but have followed it up with both a cinematic and gameplay trailer at the start of this month. The cinematic trailer surprisingly shows more gameplay than you’d expect from something named as such, so let’s take a look at what’s been revealed in both as we wait for the game to hopefully go live very soon.

But let’s get a brief overview of this upcoming new blockchain game.

What Is NightSpawn?

NightSpawn is an upcoming free to play escape-room inspired horror game in which players go solo or team up with up to 3 friends in co-op to try and break out terrifying locations by solving puzzles while avoiding monsters.

This game has you step into the shoes of a group of investigators referred to as the Hollowgate Society, whose primary goal is to unravel the truth behind paranormal activities, leading them as a result into haunted places where nightmarish entities lurk and wait to snatch their curious prey.

There will be multiple game modes to enjoy, including a story-driven campaign alongside single-player and multiplayer modes. It will be playable in both first-person and third-person perspectives, with beta playtests planned to potentially start as soon as this weekend.

Chapter 1 was supposed to start “next Wednesday” per an October 24 X announcement, so October 31, but no new official announcement on the game’s X profile has been made since regarding this launch. What did happen at the end of the month however was the release of a “Main Branch” on Steam, announced on the game’s store page but not really anywhere else. This however does not seem to be publicly available for anyone to jump into, but the game’s official Discord server did reveal more info on this build, which might be referring to the launch of the first chapter. We’ll go more over these in a moment, but let’s take a look at the trailers first.

What Does NightSpawn’s Gameplay Trailer Reveal?

The gameplay trailer gives us an early glimpse at some of the locations we’ll be able to solve puzzles in while getting chased by various monsters in NightSpawn.

It looks like there will be a diverse range of different areas to explore and escape across the world, including places in Alaska, England, Canada, New York, and more. Each area might have its own distinct monsters chasing you down, from a teleporting vampire in snowy environments and a vulture-like beast in deep forests, to massive spiders underground and of course, a demon clown with his puppets in an abandoned carnival.

You’ll be able to explore “the world’s darkest places” alone or in 4-player co-op, gathering necessary tools and using various resources to solve puzzles while evading and trying to slow down the wretched abominations chasing you about. The trailer concludes with mentions of single-player and PvE co-op, but also a 2v2 mode and the ability to play as the monster, both of which are also mentioned in the game’s Steam description. The trailer itself gives no specific details, while the Steam page explains that 2v2 is a competitive PvP mode where players fight each other in a tense environment “that demands strategic cooperation and cunning.” Playing as the monster is labelled as being an upcoming mode, so we likely won’t have that option for the first chapter, but will have to only deal with AI-driven monsters instead.

The cinematic trailer might be even better than the gameplay one, as it actually seems to show a lot more raw gameplay footage than you’d expect. We can see players roaming about with weapons and other tools in hand or in their hotbar while attempting to interact with various objects to escape. We also get a glimpse of dozens of unique characters you’ll be able to select and unlock along the way. It does seem like each of them is assigned a different role and has their own loadouts and abilities as well instead of just differing in appearance, which is in line with the game's store page description. You can however play to unlock cosmetics though, and even add challenges and modifiers before starting a match.

What Are the Features of NightSpawn Chapter 1?

The official X announcement stated that Chapter 1 will begin with “3 paths,” 2 characters, and 75 rewards. A short video was also embedded, which seems to reveal Somnia integration while clarifying that 3 paths refer to 3 Season Pass tracks, and completing all of them will unlock a character named Estelle Red, who is also shown in the teaser.

Aside from this, no more Chapter 1 info has been revealed, but an announcement in the game’s official Discord server did mention what will be included in the Main Branch build.

The Discord post notes both content that will available before the full launch, as well as features planned for official release.

Content in the pre-launch phase is set to include 1 playable map, 1 AI-controlled werewolf monster named The Lycan, 4 playable characters, a character progression cap of level 3 / 19, non-premium cosmetics, and non-premium currency called Blood Shards. It also mentions “Escape scenarios” being limited to 4, with single-player and peer-to-peer co-op being the 2 available escape modes for this early phase.

At full launch, expect 4 playable maps, 22 playable characters, Tarot cards as game modifiers/challenges, a premium currency alongside all the non-premium stuff, multiple escape scenarios, Monster Evolutions, 4 different monsters, and more language support instead of just English. Next to the 2 PvE game modes, a 4v1 mode will be introduced, allowing players to play as one of the 4 monsters, which include The Lycan (werewolf), The Noble (vampire), The Arachnid (spider), and The Grand Puppeteer (demon). With the Monster Evolutions feature, those who play as monsters will be able to change form up to 3 times by feeding themselves with blood. The full release will also see the game be live on both Steam and the Epic Games Store as a F2P title.

Details on web3 features do not seem to have been revealed at the time of writing.

While NightSpawn wasn’t available in time for Halloween, you can expect beta weekends to kick off soon, with the first playtest possibly starting this November 14 and running until November 17. If you like games such as Dead by Daylight, then NightSpawn could be right up your alley, so be sure to keep a lookout these days for the potential beta playtest.