Developed by Wych Elm and published by Team17, Silver Pines sees players begin a descent into the dreaded darkness. This classic survival horror game features a tense atmosphere and a Metroidvania-style experience.
In Silver Pines, players take on the role of private investigator Red Walker. They find themselves in the eponymous small town, which seems to be abandoned, and are tasked with finding a missing musician named Eddie Velvet. Dark secrets await discovery in Silver Pines, and players must interact with the town's strange cast of characters to unravel them. Visually and atmospherically, the game clearly draws inspiration from Resident Evil, Silent Hill and the cult TV series Twin Peaks. The in-game world resembles a gloomy, hand-drawn small town from the 1990s, shrouded in dense fog and featuring grainy 2.5D side-scrolling visuals. The game creates a constant sense of impending danger through its sinister audio design and visual elements.
The game combines classic survival horror and puzzle-solving with resource and inventory management, as well as Metroidvania-style exploration. Players must overcome demonic bosses and confront the terrors that now roam the streets. However, the enemy types could be more diverse, and the hit feedback could feel more powerful. It can be hard to determine whether an enemy has been hit correctly. Sometimes aiming can be a bit fiddly, too.
Silver Pines (c) Wych Elm / Team17
Players must fight or evade the town’s terrors while searching for resources and solutions to the puzzles blocking their path. Inventory space is limited and every bullet, bottle of medicine and upgrade is precious. Incidentally, saving is done via phone boxes (where one must dial a number). However, there is also Metroidvania-style progression: locked doors and hidden paths become accessible once players uncover a clue, a new tool, or a resource. For example, they can use a crowbar to gradually unlock new routes through the town. Exploring the interconnected small town is motivating. One particularly cool and clever feature is the ability to photograph clues and manually pin them to the map, which creates a sense of detective work and makes puzzle-solving engaging.
Five-person Swedish studio Wych Elm developed Silver Pines. The team consists of members who have previously worked on titles such as Helldivers 2, The Darkness and Yoku's Island Express. The game is published by Team17 from the UK. Founded in 1990, Team17 is part of the Everplay Group and is both a developer and a publisher. The company has an extensive portfolio of over 150 titles, including Dredge, Date Everything!, Overcooked!, Wardogs, together with in-house brands such as Hell Let Loose, Golf With Your Friends, The Escapists and the Worms franchise.
Silver Pines (c) Wych Elm / Team17
“Silver Pines is four years in the making, and the road here has been a long and strange one for our five person team. We're thrilled to finally be able to welcome everyone to experience our small town descent into the surreal. Silver Pines is our art house love letter to survival-horror, metroidvania and '90s neo noir detective fiction. Those influences are baked into the strange little town we've created, and we hope to give players an experience we're so often treated to in movies but so rarely in games." - Linus Larsson, co-founder, Wych Elm
“It’s a joy to work with those you know and trust. And Wych Elm, made up from developers who designed the BAFTA-winning Yoku’s Island Express for Team17, haven’t disappointed. From rotoscoped motion capture to some unnerving narrative design, they’ve innovated and delivered something unique in such a tried and tested genre.” - Harley Homewood, General Manager, Team17
Silver Pines (c) Wych Elm / Team17
Silver Pines was released on 8 October 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 1/2, and Xbox Series X|S. The standard version costs £21.99/$24.99/€24.99, while the deluxe edition, which includes a digital artbook and soundtrack, is priced at £27.99/$31.99/€31.99.
Silver Pines is an atmospheric survival horror Metroidvania game with a rich retro aesthetic and engaging gameplay.
