Polish developer Sonka surprised horror fans during the Future Games Show: Live from LA by unexpectedly releasing a trailer and a substantial new demo for Holstin, their upcoming psychological survival horror experience drenched in 1990s Eastern European dread. The all-new demo is available now on Steam and offers players their deepest look yet into the decaying heart of Jeziorne-Kolonia.
Set in the decaying and possessed Polish lakeside town of Jeziorne-Kolonia, Holstin pulls you into a rot-slicked mystery where the air itself feels diseased and nothing is quite as it seems.
Unlike previous vertical slices, this demo opens with the game’s full prologue. It plunges you into the first two hours of gameplay, including combat, environmental puzzles, scavenging, and tense NPC encounters. It’s a disturbing, dense dive into Holstin’s mold-strangled world, where the locals aren’t entirely human anymore, and you might not be either.
Built using Sonka’s custom 2XD rendering technology, Holstin is an optical marvel. Its dynamic perspective shifts, from over-the-shoulder gunplay and top-down exploration to first-person driving and side-scrolling claustrophobia, blend seamlessly into its pixel art aesthetic, all illuminated by moody real-time lighting.
The new gameplay trailer, which premiered during the show, showcases Holstin’s fluid perspective changes, atmospheric density, and gut-wrenching combat. If Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Twin Peaks had a fever dream in post-communist Poland, this would be it.
Sonka is also ramping up for a major Kickstarter campaign later this year, inviting fans to help shape the final form of this nightmarish indie gem. Supporters will gain early access to news, behind-the-scenes content, and more as Holstin approaches its full release across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and both generations of Nintendo Switch.
You can add Holstin to your wishlist on Steam and play the demo today.
