Solo developer Pappy’s Pipe Dream has made a Steam preview code available for Echograph, a survival horror game where you fight ghosts with a camera.
The preview build runs for around 45 minutes, depending on how you play, so it’s a short taste of the whole idea.
The Steam page sets the scene: you play Layla, the sole survivor of a night that claimed her entire family. Years later, she returns to the decaying family manor to uncover what really happened.
The game switches perspective as you go. You explore the mansion from an isometric third-person view, then drop into first-person to photograph ghosts. Pappy’s Pipe Dream says the camera is your combat tool, and resources are limited, so every encounter becomes a decision between fighting and fleeing.
You also crack environmental puzzles in a house with secret passageways, restless spirits, and buried secrets. The developer also says you can help ghosts find peace and pass on. The look is retro, with PSX-style visuals and pixel art.
Pappy’s Pipe Dream describes the game as influenced by genre classics such as Fatal Frame / Project Zero, Resident Evil, and Silent Hill. The developer says its story, a generational family curse, is inspired by Ari Aster’s Hereditary.
The camera-first combat is the clearest link to Fatal Frame. For more survival horror, Tbreak has covered Resident Evil Veronica, a remake that brings Claire Redfield back in 2027.
Echograph is a single-player game for PC on Steam. The Steam page lists the release date as “To be announced” and says the game isn’t yet available and gives no price.
