DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark

DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark is a survival horror game where players control a high school student navigating an abandoned town filled with Indonesian mythical ghosts. Utilizing a smartphone and digital camera, the protagonist must solve puzzles and fend off supernatural threats while uncovering the dark secrets of the town.

DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark: Review

Introduction

In the shadowed corridors of digital folklore, few indie studios have carved as distinct a niche as Indonesia’s Digital Happiness. Their DreadOut series, born from a passion for local mythology and survival horror tropes, stands as a testament to the power of niche cultural storytelling. DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark, released in 2016 as a standalone expansion, emerges not as a sequel but as a haunting interlude—a “missing chapter” plunging players into the liminal space between the original game’s acts. This review posits that while Keepers of the Dark elevates the series’ strengths in boss design and atmospheric dread, it is ultimately undermined by technical inconsistencies, recycled assets, and a narrative that feels more like a lore supplement than a cohesive journey. It is a flawed, yet fascinating artifact in the indie horror landscape—a game that burns with creative ambition but struggles to escape the constraints of its own ambition.

Development History & Context

Digital Happiness, a Jakarta-based studio of approximately 20 core developers (supported by 65 credited contributors for Keepers of the Dark), operates in a challenging environment. Indonesia’s gaming industry, historically dominated by mobile and social titles, offered little institutional support. The original DreadOut (2014) was birthed from an Indiegogo campaign seeking $25,000, ultimately raising $29,067—a grassroots effort fueled by global curiosity about Southeast Asian horror. Funded by crowdfunding and fueled by a desire to showcase Indonesian folklore, the team leveraged the Unity engine for multi-platform compatibility (Windows, Linux, macOS, with a canceled PS4 port). By 2016, when Keepers of the Dark launched, the indie horror genre was saturated with titles like Outlast and Amnesia, yet few embraced cultural specificity. Digital Happiness positioned Keepers not as a sequel but as a “standalone horror game” in the universe—a decision that allowed creative experimentation but also exposed limitations. The team’s vision—blending modern gadgetry (smartphones, cameras) with ancient Javanese and Sundanese myths—remained potent, but the expansion’s development was reportedly rushed, leading to the technical and design flaws that would define its reception.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Keepers of the Dark picks up immediately after Linda’s confrontation with the Lady in Red in the original DreadOut. Pulled into a “Mirror Realm”—a liminal nexus of eight haunted dominions—Linda must banish spectral Keepers to confront the Serpent Mistress, the source of the town’s corruption. The narrative is deliberately fragmented: told through environmental clues, ghostly backstories in the “Ghostpedia,” and cryptic cutscenes. Each Keeper embodies a unique Indonesian urban legend. For instance, the “Seeing Blind” spirit—a detective blinded and forced to eat his own victims’ eyes—symbolizes the futility of uncovering hidden truths. The “Sundel Bolong” (a woman with a hollowed-out torso) evokes themes of maternal trauma and societal shame. These backstories are hauntingly rich, but the overarching plot remains elusive. The connection between Linda’s journey and the original game’s mystery (e.g., Ms. Siska’s betrayal) is teased but never fully resolved, leaving players to piece together lore across the DreadOut manga and the original game. Thematically, the expansion explores cyclical vengeance and the burden of power. Linda’s role as a “keeper of darkness” questions whether she is a savior or a new vessel for evil—a ambiguity deepened by the game’s two endings: one where she defeats the Serpent Mistress (hinting at her transformation) and another where she escapes, leaving the realm’s fate uncertain.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Keepers of the Dark reprises the original’s core mechanics but shifts focus to a non-linear “boss rush” structure. Players navigate a central hallway with eight doors, each leading to a realm dominated by a Keeper. Within each realm, Linda must:
– Photograph ghosts: Using her smartphone or SLR camera in first-person view, she targets weak points, dealing damage and unlocking lore entries. The camera’s zoom and focus mechanics are refined but prone to input lag.
– Solve puzzles: Environmental puzzles (e.g., assembling a gramophone, collecting hidden notes) are interlinked, requiring backtracking across realms.
– Manage resources: Stamina limits sprinting, while mental/physical damage degrades Linda’s state—clutching her head during mental assaults or being knocked down by physical hits.

The systems shine in boss design. Each Keeper (e.g., the Serpent Mistress, inspired by the Siluman Buaya Putih myth) has unique attack patterns and vulnerabilities, demanding adaptability. For example, “Seeing Blind” is only vulnerable when exposing an eye in his mouth, requiring a specific item (glasses) from another realm. However, lesser ghost encounters are a liability. Recycled from the original game, these apparitions are glitchy—stuck in walls, invincible, or frustratingly aggressive in tight spaces. The camera controls, vital for survival, often fail to register inputs, leading to cheap deaths. Progression is item-based (e.g., needles to weaken a ghost) rather than character-driven, creating a repetitive loop of exploration and battle. The nonlineality initially feels liberating but devolves into tedium as realms are revisited for collectibles. Ultimately, Keepers succeeds as a curated boss-rush but falters as a holistic experience.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The Mirror Realm is a masterclass in atmospheric design, merging recycled locations from the original DreadOut (school, hospital, village) with two new, claustrophobic areas (a sewer maze and the Serpent Mistress’ lair). Despite asset reuse, the environments are rich with detail: decaying furniture, flickering lights, and oppressive shadows that amplify dread. The art direction leans into grotesque beauty—ghosts like the “Pocong Warrior” (a mummy-like figure) are rendered with unsettling textures, while the Serpent Mistress coils through a debris-strewn final arena.

Sound design is the expansion’s triumph. Traditional instruments (angklung, gamelan) weave into unsettling soundscapes, blending with whispers, screams, and environmental creaks. Voice acting (voiced by actors like Heidi Tabing as Linda) is emotive, with Linda’s gasps and the ghosts’ wails heightening tension. The vignette system—glowing blue for clues, red for threats—intuitively guides players. Yet, technical flaws mar the immersion: pop-in textures, inconsistent draw distances, and clipping issues pull players from the horror. The final boss arena, cluttered with hanging debris, exemplifies this over-ambition—visually chaotic but mechanically confining. Despite these flaws, the world-building endures as a character in itself, a place where every shadow feels haunted by forgotten folklore.

Reception & Legacy

At launch, Keepers of the Dark received a mixed reception. Critic reviews (e.g., Eurogamer Italy, Multiplayer.it) praised its boss design and atmosphere, awarding it 70/100, but criticized recycled content and technical hiccups. On Steam, it maintains a “Mostly Positive” rating (79/100 from 1,139 reviews), with players lauding its cultural authenticity and boss variety while lamenting its brevity (4–5 hours) and glitches. User scores on Grouvee average 3.21/5, reflecting this divide.

Legacy-wise, Keepers occupies a curious space. It is often cited as the series’ high point for combat and lore expansion, yet its narrative incompleteness and technical issues prevent it from reaching the heights of mainstream horror titles. It influenced subsequent indie games like Lemnis Gate by demonstrating the appeal of non-linear, combat-focused horror. Its inclusion in the DreadOut Remastered Collection (2025) may have addressed some technical flaws, but its core identity remains that of a love letter to Indonesian mythology—a flawed but vital chapter in the franchise.

Conclusion

DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark is a game of two halves: a masterclass in boss-rush design and a cautionary tale of ambition over execution. It elevates the DreadOut universe with its terrifying specters, rich folklore, and haunting atmosphere, yet stumbles under the weight of recycled assets, nagging glitches, and a narrative that feels more like a footnote than a story. For fans of the series, it is an essential, if imperfect, bridge between the original and its sequel—a testament to Digital Happiness’s cultural vision. For newcomers, it may serve as an introduction to Indonesian horror but requires tolerance for jank. Ultimately, Keepers of the Dark earns its place in indie history as a bold, atmospheric experiment. It is not the definitive DreadOut experience, but in its flaws and triumphs, it captures the chaotic, compelling spirit of survival horror itself. Verdict: A flawed, fascinating artifact worth exploring for series veterans and horror connoisseurs alike.