An upcoming four-player psychological horror game is taking a disturbing approach to cooperative survival, introducing enemies that can learn players’ voices and use them to impersonate their teammates.
Developed by indie studio Garage51, CORDURA challenges groups of up to four players to explore constantly changing Victorian labyrinths, recover valuable resources and escape before the darkness turns their own communication against them.
The game’s standout feature is its Mimic system, which listens to conversations through proximity voice chat and uses recorded speech to deceive players. Rather than simply repeating random phrases, the system is designed to interpret conversations and use familiar voices at convincing moments, potentially leading players into dangerous situations.
Making matters worse, enemies can also imitate the physical appearance of teammates, meaning even finding a familiar face doesn’t guarantee safety.
Players take on the role of workers sent into corrupted Victorian buildings to recover the mysterious Roses of the Night, valuable flowers used to produce a substance known as Ambrosia. One player can help guide the expedition using a radio and map while the others navigate the labyrinth and search for resources.
Maintaining sanity is another important part of the experience. Spending too long in the darkness can cause players to experience hallucinations and become increasingly vulnerable to deception. Reuniting with teammates can restore sanity, although identifying genuine allies may become increasingly difficult.
The environments are procedurally generated and can change during exploration, preventing players from relying on familiar routes. CORDURA also features permanent character death, customisable workers and a dynamic difficulty system that adjusts the experience for smaller groups.
Garage51 has also revealed plans for the game’s first public testing period, beginning with a limited Discord community playtest on October 13, followed by a wider Steam playtest scheduled for November 2.
The upcoming Steam test is expected to run for one week and will focus primarily on the Mimic system, allowing developers to evaluate how convincingly it can reproduce voices across different languages and accents.
CORDURA is currently in development for PC, with no confirmed release date. Players can already add the game to their Steam wishlists ahead of its