According to IGN, developer Coven has announced Haunted, an asymmetrical co-op horror game set within a cursed Victorian dollhouse environment. The game features one player as the Supervisor trapped inside the shifting dollhouse while up to three Explorer players navigate the full-size Woodman Manor containing it. Game Director Céline Tricart describes the experience as focusing on “teamwork, fear, and the unsettling bond between those who watch and those who are trapped.” Haunted is scheduled to launch into Early Access on PC in October 2026, with console and VR support planned for later release. The game’s Steam page is already available for wishlisting as development progresses toward its 2026 debut.
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The Psychology of Scale in Horror Gaming
What makes Haunted particularly intriguing is its manipulation of scale as a psychological horror element. While dollhouses traditionally represent miniature domestic perfection, flipping this into a horror context creates immediate cognitive dissonance. The Supervisor player’s experience of being trapped in a miniature world while their teammates navigate the “real” space above them plays with fundamental fears of helplessness and observation. This scale-shifting dynamic represents an evolution beyond traditional cooperative gameplay mechanics, where players typically share the same physical space and perspective. The psychological tension between being watched and being the watcher could create uniquely unsettling moments that standard horror games struggle to achieve.
The Technical Hurdles of Shifting Environments
Coven’s promise that “every run is different because puzzles will shift” presents significant technical challenges that could make or break the experience. Procedural puzzle generation in puzzle games requires sophisticated algorithms to maintain balance and coherence, especially when combined with horror elements. The asymmetrical nature means puzzle solutions must work across two different scales simultaneously, requiring intricate design coordination. If the shifting environments feel too random or disconnected from the manor-level exploration, the core communication mechanic could break down. The October 2026 Early Access timeline suggests Coven recognizes these complexities and is building in substantial development time to refine these systems.
Victorian Settings and Modern Horror Conventions
The choice of a Victorian-era setting for Woodman Manor taps into rich horror traditions while offering fresh opportunities. Victorian architecture’s intricate details and compartmentalized spaces naturally lend themselves to both dollhouse miniaturization and horror game level design. The era’s emphasis on family secrets, repressed emotions, and technological transition provides fertile ground for the “tragic story of the Woodman family” that players will uncover. However, Victorian horror has been extensively explored in games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Bloodborne, meaning Haunted will need to bring genuinely innovative storytelling to stand out beyond its novel gameplay mechanics.
Where Haunted Fits in the Evolving Horror Landscape
The 2026 release window positions Haunted in an increasingly crowded asymmetrical horror market that has evolved significantly since games like Dead by Daylight pioneered the genre. Recent titles like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and upcoming projects are pushing asymmetrical horror in new directions, making Haunted’s success dependent on executing its unique premise flawlessly. The planned VR support mentioned in the Steam listing could be particularly transformative—imagine the visceral impact of experiencing the dollhouse environment in virtual reality. However, VR implementation adds another layer of development complexity that could delay the console versions or require scaling back ambitious features.
The Communication Barrier as Gameplay Innovation
Perhaps the most promising aspect of Haunted is its focus on “communication under pressure” as a core mechanic. Most cooperative games treat communication as a utility rather than a central challenge. By making effective information sharing difficult under threat from “malevolent entities,” Coven is designing around a fundamental human behavior in stressful situations. This could create emergent storytelling moments where miscommunication leads to tragic consequences or brilliant last-minute saves. If executed well, this communication-centric design could influence cooperative game development broadly, showing how to turn a typically functional element into a source of tension and gameplay depth.
The success of Haunted will ultimately depend on whether its innovative scale-shifting concept can sustain engagement beyond the initial novelty. The 2026 timeline gives Coven ample opportunity to refine these ambitious systems, but the horror gaming audience has become increasingly sophisticated and demanding. If the team can deliver on their vision of meaningful environmental storytelling combined with genuinely tense cooperative puzzle-solving, Haunted could become a standout title in the next generation of horror experiences.
