Penumbra: Overture

Penumbra: Overture is the first official game in the Penumbra series, the predecessor to the more famous Amnesia series. It was released in 2007 and developed by Frictional Games. It’s a survival horror title that doesn’t rely on gore or violence, but instead focuses on puzzles and strong storytelling.

Set in 2001, Penumbra: Overture follows Philip, a thirty-year-old physicist whose mother has recently passed away. After receiving a strange letter from his father — a man he believed long dead — Philip begins unraveling a trail of clues that eventually leads him to a remote, uninhabited region of northern Greenland. Forced by the extreme cold to seek refuge in an old mine, he becomes trapped when the entrance collapses behind him, leaving him no choice but to venture deeper underground...

Fun fact: Penumbra (simply Penumbra) originally began as a tech demo for the HPL Engine, which itself started as a student project.

I really like this game, and it deserves far more recognition. The story is great, the atmosphere is excellent, and it even carries a slight “Lovecraftian” vibe (it’s no coincidence that their engine is called the HPL Engine).