In The Foundations
beepsoft industries · 2025 · Psychological Horror, Visual Novel, Minimalist, Pixel Graphics, 2D
PC
Positive97% · 39
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →
Screenshots
About In The Foundations
Echoing themes from Hereditary, The Ritual, and Layers of Fear, In The Foundations is a horror visual novel that centers around family, loss, generational debt, and duty.
You didn't want to go home ever again.You're Taylor. Your dad died suddenly a few weeks ago. It looks like he left you the family house. Really though, you swore you'd never come back here. Nothing specific bad ever happened, but the place makes you feel sick to your stomach. Like you're some how allergic. You know it's up to you to at least clean the place out. Your dad and stepmom had been divorced for years, and you've never been close with your half sister, Paige.Fortunately, you get to do this alone, at your own pace.But are you really the only one in the house? As you start the process though, that same feeling from your childhood is still there. But there's more... a presence, maybe? It shifts from terrifying to comforting. And it all seems to circle around the basement that your dad never let you enter.You need to find out what's down there. You need to understand what is in the house with you. And you need to open this lockbox that your dad left behind.Features:
- 24k+ words
- 1-2 hours of gameplay
- a combination lock puzzle
- 7 distinct endings depending on player choice
- snow globe
Additional Steam Features:
- music room for tracks that unlocks after beating the game once
- a mini-crossword that unlocks after each ending (3 5x5 crosswords, 1 6x6 crossword, 3 7x7 crosswords)
DLC & expansions
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
✦ AI summary
In The Foundations is praised for its compelling narrative that handles grief and family trauma with raw honesty while building an effective sense of dread throughout the experience. However, players note some technical issues including unclear choice mechanics that don't always align with player intent, pixel art that becomes difficult to read when stretched, and a soundtrack that some find grating rather than atmospheric.
Where the light cannot reach, what lingers is not the warmth of home, but the weight of a vow.14 found this helpful
Short and well-told, with some creepy visuals. The twist was so short-lived that I didn't really have time to make solid assumptions before those were subverted, but the story was pretty interesting regardless.
A small, well-considered narrative experience. It's short and free, so if the idea of exploring responsibility, generational debt and making the most out of limited options sounds appealing, consider picking it up!
It's not that bad but the music was enough to give me an headache. Some choices are not clear, like I wanted to sell the table to the old man but instead the character decided to keep it, not sure why. I usually like pixel art like that but here it's so small that if you stretch it to the screen you can barely tell what you're looking at.
PEAK
Creepy vibes. Really good writing
Community reviews
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