DarkSwitch Preview: Frostpunk Meets Silent Hill in a Lush Fantasy Nightmare

Screenshot: DarkSwitch

We recently got to play a preview build of DarkSwitch that shows off a little bit more than the Steam demo does—and few colony sims have grabbed me quite like this. I probably haven’t been this invested in the genre since the original Frostpunk thrust me into a “what if” frozen world and tasked me with keeping its residents alive. But instead of a frozen wasteland, DarkSwitch drops you into a lush fantasy world where being on the ground means being subjected to a creeping fog that hides monsters within—and leads to madness for those stuck in it too long. It’s an interesting concept that happens to tick all my boxes.

The gameplay loop is defined by verticality. While practical necessities—like a fishing hut near a lake or a lumber mill near a forest—force you to build some structures on the ground, the majority of your population uses a 200-meter-tall tree as their home. That’s because the Shroud (the aforementioned fog) is a constant threat. Your only defenses are height and light. Daytime gives some reprieve, but ultimately you’ll need to construct light sources and even light-based weaponry to stave off the eldritch horrors brought on by the mist.

Screenshot: DarkSwitch

The pressure is relentless. You aren't just battling a rising death fog–you are managing citizens who need to be housed, fed, and healed. This requires a delicate balance between the dangers of the ground and the needs of the tree. You can send expeditions out to brave the Shroud to retrieve artifacts and unlock lore, but you have to be careful: citizen fear is measured as a status bar. The higher the fear, the lower the productivity.

Then there are the external threats, like the religious zealots who will happily cause pain to your citizens to spread their version of the truth. Everything seemed to be going great in my playthrough until I was visited by an airship carrying a group of these inquisitors. We tried to resist, but they eventually landed and began interrogating my citizens—leaving them with broken bones and broken minds.

Verdict? DarkSwitch has a fantastic premise—essentially horror-survival meets city-building. With legendary Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka providing the score, it’s clear developer Cyber Temple is aiming for a genuine sense of dread—which, so far, they’ve achieved.

DarkSwitch is currently slated for release on March 12, 2026, on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store.