How did you even think to…does anyone know? Look. Don’t do this.
LOS ANGELES — July 20, 2026 — T.W.I.R.L., a horror game about growing up with a deep secret that must be protected for life, tiptoes toward terrifying truths on PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. Developer Genie Boy Games will inject its introspective terrors on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch at a later date.
Creep through the throes of youth as a nine-year-old boy in 2006, awakening at 3:00 a.m. while his family is asleep. Slink around his childhood home as some unknown force coaxes him out of bed, pulling him to roam the halls in the dead of night. Feel every pace with the weight of a spectral overseer behind him, compelling him to “T.W.I.R.L.” — whatever that means — with one caveat: Don’t. Tell. Anybody.
Protect a secret for life in a story told through P.T.-inspired loops that change both child and home. Bear the untold weight of navigating adolescence as he grows up to make a massive, life-changing revelation. Open the door to self-reflection in an exploratory walk through the haunted nostalgia of 2006, where anyone noticing you – even yourself – means death.
Witness a rich cast of characters and discover how simple childhood routines can twist over time into a dark and crippling albatross.
“Our movements, habits, and secrets shape our identities, especially as children,” said Ben Escobar, founder of Genie Boy Games. “Secretive turned-subconscious rituals can define us without us even knowing. While most walking simulators are often preoccupied with an end destination, T.W.I.R.L. is meant to ask: who are we in between, through each step towards something we actively keep secret?”
Reckon with the deepest, darkest horrors of childhood when T.W.I.R.L. launches on Monday, Aug. 10 on PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, followed by PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch versions later this year.
For more information, join the community on Discord, visit the official Genie Boy Games website, and follow the developer on Twitter and Instagram.
About Genie Boy Games
Genie Boy Games is an independent game development studio helmed by film producer, writer, and director Ben Escobar, where the fusion of film and interactivity flourishes. Video games were the medium in which the team learned to convey meaningful stories. Ben pairs his penchant for meaningful filmmaking with interactive storytelling techniques revolving around minimalism, experimental horror, and abstract themes to provide a frightful narrative in the studio’s debut game T.W.I.R.L. (spawned from the David Lynch: Catch Ideas Like Fish” Game Jam by the Haunted PS1 Community), currently in development.
