Stifled

Stifled
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	Gattai Games
Publisher	Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation 4), Gattai Games (PC)
Platform	PlayStation VR, SteamVR, Oculus Rift (Platform)
Device	PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive
Operating System	PlayStation 4, Windows, MacOS
Type	Game
Genre	Horror, Stealth
Input Device	DualShock 4, Gamepad, Tracked Motion Controllers, Microphone
Game Mode	Single-player
Release Date	October 31, 2017 (PS4); July 10, 2018 (PC)
Price	US$19.99
App Store	PlayStation Store, Steam, Oculus Store
Website	https://gattaigames.com/stifled

See also: VR Apps and PSVR Games

Stifled is a sound-based horror game developed by Gattai Games, a studio in Singapore, in which the world is dark and only becomes visible through echolocation when the player makes noise, including through a microphone. Sony Interactive Entertainment published it for PlayStation 4 on 31 October 2017 in North America and Europe, with optional PlayStation VR support. Gattai Games released a PC version on 10 July 2018 for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and non-VR play on monitors.

The player controls David Ridley, a grief-stricken widower. The game grew out of Lurking, an award-winning horror game that several of the studio's founders made as students at DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore. On Metacritic, the PlayStation 4 version has a "mixed or average" Metascore of 63 based on 13 critic reviews.

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Developer, publishers, PS Store and Steam release dates, prices and languages, Lurking origin and IGF China awards, development quotes, studio-listed awards, Metacritic and OpenCritic scores and the three named reviews against their cited sources. About review dates.

Gameplay

Stifled is a first-person stealth horror game. The environments are black, and sounds send out a wave that briefly outlines nearby objects in white lines before they fade again. Sound comes from the character's footsteps, from actions such as throwing rocks, and from the player's own voice picked up by a microphone. Enemies hear the same sounds, so the player has to weigh seeing the surroundings against drawing creatures toward them. The Steam listing sums this up as a game where "SOUND is the only way you SEE and the enemies HEAR your fear through your microphone input".

The PlayStation 4 version is played with a DualShock 4 controller. On PlayStation, the microphone input can come from the PlayStation Camera or the PS VR headset; players without a microphone can press a button to make a noise instead. PlayStation LifeStyle described four ways to play, from a flat screen without a microphone to VR with a microphone. Road to VR noted that sound sources such as running water and ringing phones act as waypoints through caves and other locations. The PC version supports VR through SteamVR or the Oculus PC software and is fully playable on a monitor.

Reviewers put the length of the game at around three to five hours (UploadVR) and three to four hours (DualShockers).

Development

Lurking, a first-person horror game by students at the Singapore campus of DigiPen Institute of Technology, won the Best Student Game award in the student competition and the Excellence in Technology award in the main (professional) competition at the Independent Games Festival China in October 2014. After graduating, several of its developers formed the independent studio Gattai Games to make Stifled; DigiPen named Justin Ng and sound designer Bryan Teo among the team. According to UploadVR, Lurking started as a sound-based puzzle and exploration game inspired by an animation of a blind girl finding her way through the world, and turned into a horror game after the sound designer saw the art tests. Gattai Games' Stifled page calls Lurking the game's "spiritual predecessor".

Gattai Games showed Stifled at PAX West 2016 in Seattle, where UploadVR played an early VR build. The studio told the site that microphone input began as a low-cost way to build a VR experience, and that it raised immersion enough to convince the team to pursue VR. Ng said: "VR is all about immersion and presence, and with horror games, we are going to expect more intense experiences thanks to that immersion". At that time the studio planned a release for non-VR PC, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in the first quarter of 2017, plus a PlayStation 4 version with and without PS VR. In an October 2016 DigiPen interview, Ng recommended playing "in a dark room, with a microphone".

In July 2017 Sony announced Stifled as one of four PlayStation VR games from Eastern developers confirmed for release in the West, according to UploadVR. When the release date was confirmed in October 2017, UploadVR reported that the game had been in development for about three years in Singapore.

Release

Road to VR described the 2017 release as a PlayStation VR exclusive; the PC version followed in July 2018.

Platform	Region	Release date	Publisher	Notes
PlayStation 4 (PlayStation VR optional)	North America	31 October 2017	Sony Interactive Entertainment	US$19.99 on the PlayStation Store; PS Camera optional
PlayStation 4 (PlayStation VR optional)	Europe	31 October 2017	Sony Interactive Entertainment	GBP 15.99 on the UK PlayStation Store (SIE Europe listing)
PlayStation 4	Asia	24 April 2018	Sony Interactive Entertainment	English/Chinese/Korean version, as listed on the Singapore PlayStation Store
Windows, MacOS (Steam)	Not region-specific	10 July 2018	Gattai Games	VR optional via SteamVR or Oculus PC; US$19.99
Oculus Rift (Oculus Store)	Not region-specific	10 July 2018	Gattai Games	Also sold through Humble, Itch.io, Green Man Gaming and the Razer Game Store

The Steam version lists English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish and Thai, each with full audio.

Awards

Gattai Games lists more than a dozen awards and selections for Stifled. In October 2016, DigiPen reported that the game had won the Best Gameplay and Viewer's Choice awards at the Unite game conference and the Judges' Choice award in the GameStart Indie Awards. The studio's own list also includes the Dengeki Suda51 award at BitSummit 2017, Most Innovative at the Taipei Game Show 2017, Most Innovative Game and Best Game Design at Casual Connect Asia 2017, Best in Show at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention 2017, and a selection for the IndieCade showcase at E3 2017.

Reception

Publication	Score	Notes
Metacritic (aggregate)	63/100	PS4 version, 13 critic reviews
OpenCritic (aggregate)	57	Top Critic Average, rated "Weak"; 18% of critics recommend
UploadVR	80/100	Score as listed by Metacritic
IGN Italy	7/10	Score as listed by OpenCritic
DualShockers	6/10
PlayStation LifeStyle	5.5/10	Score as listed by OpenCritic
Gaming Nexus	4.9/10	Score as listed by OpenCritic

David Jagneaux of UploadVR called Stifled "one of the most smartly designed and inventive horror games I've ever played" and wrote that the sound mechanic works especially well in VR. He criticized the enemy AI, a story that "isn't too memorable" and slower house-exploration sections that he felt were padding. Lou Contaldi of DualShockers found the risk and reward of making noise "typically satisfying" and called the free VR mode "a terrific value for anyone with PlayStation VR", but wrote that the echolocation adds little once its novelty wears thin and that the game often feels "beat-for-beat like a game from yesteryear". Chandler Wood of PlayStation LifeStyle called the use of sound as visuals "an exciting element" and wrote that the game is "a much stronger experience" in VR with the audio input, while saying that "the indie horror tropes bleed through" and that the monster encounters frustrated rather than scared him.