Layers of Fear (2016)

Layers of Fear is a first-person psychedelic horror game with a heavy focus on story and exploration. Players take control of a painter whose sole purpose is to finish his Magnum Opus. The player must navigate a constantly changing Victorian-era mansion and ghastly visions of the painter’s psyche.

Layers of Fear (2016) is a horror, psychological horror and atmospheric game developed and published by Bloober Team SA.
Released on February 15th 2016 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux in 12 languages: English, Italian, Polish, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish and Korean.

It has received 26,385 reviews of which 23,382 were positive and 3,003 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.7 out of 10. 😎

The game is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.

The Steam community has classified Layers of Fear (2016) into these genres:

Horror Psychological Horror Atmospheric Walking Simulator First-Person Singleplayer Story Rich Indie Adventure Multiplayer Psychedelic Dark Puzzle Exploration Great Soundtrack Mystery Lovecraftian Surreal Survival Horror Short

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Layers of Fear (2016) through various videos and screenshots.

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Requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

OS *: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q8400
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB / Radeon R7 250X 1GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Microsoft Xbox 360 Games for Windows (Wired), Microsoft Xbox One Controller (Wired), Sony PS4 DualShock 4 controller (wired), Steam Controller

MacOS

OS: 10.12 (Sierra)
Processor: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB VRAM / Nvidia GeForce 750M / Intel HD 6100
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Xbox 360 for Windows controller (wired) and the Xbox One controller (wired)

Linux

OS: Steam OS, Ubuntu 14.04 and 15.10
Processor: Intel Core i5 3470
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (Wired), Steam Controller

Reviews

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Dec. 2024

After my second playthrough, it's always fun to let the subtle horror rain down on you. The changes in the environment or small moving things build up tension. There are also different endings to the game, excellent. I don't know why you need a game launcher now, I found it somehow unnecessary. But you can also turn it off, a Steam guide will help you here.

Dec. 2024

I couldn't really come up with much to say about this game besides that I got it on sale for 2 bucks and that's about the right price anyone should pay for this. It's a psychological horror which isn't particularly scary, the gameplay is repetitive and boring, and the puzzles can be solved without thinking unless you want to explore the multiple endings (at least I think it has multiple endings judging by the cheevos). On the other hand, I liked the story and visuals. Honestly, the game is okay, don't expect a masterpiece though.

Dec. 2024

I would give this a 5 out of 10. In general, its like walking thru a haunted house. There's really nothing to do other than like 2 or 3 puzzles which are very simple. You pretty much just hit the W key to move from door to door and see disturbing scenes. The ending was very anti climactic. Honestly I didn't even realize it was over until I came upon the credits. From beginning to end (and I'm not a fast player) I made it thru the entire base game in just under 3 hours. The good parts are the graphics are pretty good, and the story is ok. That's about it. Not enough here to go on about. It was worth the $2 I paid during the holiday sale.

Nov. 2024

The game is a 8/10 i would say. Visuals are cool. Story is cool, although you have to really pay attention but i guess it's not hard to understand that...SPOILER_START the protagonist suffers from schizophrenia, atleast that's my take on it. And boy oh boy i think they actually conveyed it extremely well of how it might be. SPOILER_END... The controls are fine i think. Now keep in mind this is a psychological horror game. You will not get any difficult puzzles here. It's really about the protagonists "story" that they want to display here and make you catch a glimpse of what it might feel like to be the protagonist. Most of the time you get the solutions thrown at your face, but there is one part in the game where i felt a bit confused. That's also where my controls went a bit funky. Not sure why. SPOILER_START Now i don't fully know what the game is called in english but it looks like chess, however it is only using flat circles as the stones. So maybe it's called "checkers" or so. Anyway, when there is that checkers board in the center of the room you will have to collect pieces of the boardgame which took me a bit to understand. And once you finished it you had to walk back to the table on which the boardgame was to progress. That's where i had the problems with a rotating camera and the sound not being played on both ears in stereo-fashion. SPOILER_END One improvement i suggest is making the player more aware of where to look. They used the enforced-camera-look but when some vital things were happening i scurried too fast through the door or looked somewhere else and completely missed the action. Now one thing i really didn't like is the sound design. It's not the sound itself but for some reason when i played this with my headset i could either hear directional sounds on the left or the right ear. Meaning, if i was in front of a door, or a drawer i would have to look a bit offset at it to get the sound played. And if i looked straight onto anything that has directional sound i would not get the sound at all. For example a piano, when it played an i looked straight at it, i couldn't hear it. If i turned the camera a bit to the left or right i was able to hear it but just on one ear. I suppose that's on unity. Or maybe my headset. Who knows. And another bug was that my camera just started rotating for no reason and i was unable to stop it. Maybe that was also on my side, but that can happen i guess. Apart from that i would say a solid game. But in my honest opinion i wouldn't have bought it for 20€. Maybe 10€. It was on sale when i bought it for 1,99€ and to be honest a game like this for 2€ is really awesome. More than you can ask for. For 20€ i would say, polish a few things. Especially the sound design. And maybe guiding the players camera more in rather vital moments.

Oct. 2024

I've spend way too much time wandering around checking every little corner of the painter's mansion 'cause the game's ambience and design in details are just perfect. It'll port you in a beautiful place between unwarranted paranoia and justified fear. Layers of Fear isn't about spamming jumpscares. It's more kinda like..you'll turn around and some things in the room suddenly look different or changed places, portrait's eyes will follow your steps through corridors and some well placed noises will just scare the hell outta you. So, the first "chapters" will be a really relaxing and calming experience to you, but as soon as the story moves forward, you'll simply just get intensely paranoid and extreme cautious of every move you'll make. So keep on playing and don't quit too soon 'cause the game seems "boring" to you at first. -It'll hit you twice later. (:

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Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates

Steam data	01 December 2024 00:30
SteamSpy data	22 January 2025 01:22
Steam price	22 January 2025 20:49
Steam reviews	21 January 2025 07:48

19.99€

8.7

23,382

3,003

Online players

Developer

Bloober Team SA

Publisher

Bloober Team SA

Release 15 Feb 2016

Platforms