“Got nabbed by a bald dude with too many arms, locked in a cage and chased through the sewer to… god knows where xD 10/10, can recommend.”

That’s a Steam review for It Reaches, Emberflight Games’ bodycam horror shooter that launched May 17 to a perfect 100% rating — all eleven reviews positive. Tiny sample size. Absolutely. But those writeups tell you everything about why this game is climbing Steam’s New Releases chart while bigger-budget horror titles with four times the marketing spend struggle to crack “Mixed.”

It Reaches is a first-person survival horror played through the lens of a police officer’s body camera. You’re trapped in an abandoned hospital’s underground facilities, holding your breath — literally, that’s a mechanic — as multi-limbed nightmares stalk past. Hold too long and you gasp, giving away your position. The game arms you with service weapons and tactical gear, but resources are scarce and every fight is a calculated gamble.

Player counts are modest: 57 concurrent at time of writing, though that represents an 185% surge over its previous tracked session, suggesting word-of-mouth momentum is building. The game sits at $13.49 with a 10% launch discount off $14.99.

The demo built a loyal following months ago. One returning player, 2.7 hours in, praised the expanded enemy variety, weapons, and — critically — “hands… so many hands omg.” The hand motif is doing heavy lifting as unofficial branding.

Content creators are reacting in kind. MoistCr1TiKaL reported holding his breath through entire sequences. Hollow was rendered genuinely speechless. These aren’t sponsored pull quotes buried in a press kit — they’re raw responses to a game that likely cost a fraction of what AAA studios burn on a single cutscene.

It Reaches hits PlayStation 5 on May 26 and Xbox Series X|S later this summer.

Sources