There’s something really special about playing the first game of a new developer, then following their journey into the big wide world. Last year I got to do this with Serafini Productions, a new indie horror game developer who somehow released three games in 2025. These games all delighted and terrified me in equal measure, and really ignited my passion for short form horror. Now in a brand new year the Serafini folks are back with BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW, which is by far their most ambitious game yet.
In UNFOLLOW you play as Anne, a woman who had a hell of a rough childhood. Dealing with her abusive mother and horrific bullies at school was almost too much for Anne, but she was able to discover a streamer online who helped her make it through the tough times. Those old scars are clearly still an issue though, which you’ll very quickly discover while battling through Anne’s demons in a first person horror style.
The game opens with a house to explore, complete with relics of the past that help fill in Anne’s backstory. You’ll find notes where Anne is wishing for a perfect body, cartoons depicting children laughing at her weight, and old toys that provided little comfort. It doesn’t take long for the action to start though, as you’re funnelled down into the foreboding basement and discover you aren’t alone down there.
A lot of your time in BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW will be spent exploring both grounded and completely nightmarish environments, but there are also a significant amount of stealth and escape sequences that’ll get the blood pumping too. When these are done well you’ll really feel the tension as you narrowly avoid getting stabbed to death by a horrific masked figure, but occasionally they’re more frustrating than freaky. Part of this is because ducking to hide isn’t always that effective, and you can never really trust if your stealthy plans will succeed or fail spectacularly.
Whereas the earlier BrokenLore games were essentially horror walking simulators, UNFOLLOW has much more to it. Often you’ll need to collect various items to progress, like ingredients/body parts to feed a massive demonic head blocking the way. Other times you’ll need to press buttons to open up new pathways, which you’ll hopefully realise have opened up. There wasn’t a whole lot of losing the path forward in past titles, and for better or worse this time around that’s definitely not the case.
Despite some frustrating mazes, I can’t deny that I enjoyed exploring all the environments of this sinister game. Whether it’s a deceptively sinister house, a fun take on the familiar spooky hospital, or a school full of your old bullies turned more murderous, every area you find yourself trapped in has something to offer. The monsters that inhabit them are great too, like your beauty obsessed mother who wants to improve you by any means necessary. They even all have their own unique themes, which manage to amp up the pressure all the more.
While in terms of gameplay I think that BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW sometimes misses the mark, the narrative is by far the best the series has ever had. You really get to know Anne, and can see the points in her life where everything went wrong for her. Combating bullying and self worth issues with a desperation to be a popular streamer causes her to lose herself and others (with a follower count constantly popping up as you play to remind you of this) and only by fighting her inner demons will she come out the other side. The story is more complex than that too with plenty of turns along the way, presented by both in-game moments and documents you find amongst the horror. You’d better believe there are some connections to the previous games too if you look hard enough, with all those secrets we’ve come to expect from this team tucked away nicely.
BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW occasionally struggles due to its own ambition, but is still very impressive for a whole host of reasons. Clocking in at around three hours it offers way more content that the previous hour long experiences, and it uses this time to really flesh out the story of Anne. If you can make it through some frustrating sections then UNFOLLOW will reward you with plenty of horror goodness, and yet again I’m left particularly excited for what’s next from Serafini Productions.
