Ukrainian studio Hello Andromeda has announced Sarco, an atmospheric horror game in which players are trapped in a scientific research base with a sarcophagus containing an imprisoned cosmic entity. The being slowly opens whenever it isn't being watched, forcing players to balance staring it down with exploring the base's corridors to find a lasting solution before their oxygen runs out. Rather than relying on jump scares, the developers say the game builds tension from a persistent, visible threat whose behaviour adapts each time players look away and return.

The game offers no save system and is designed to be completed in a single sitting, with the threat growing stronger and forcing new strategies as time runs out. Hello Andromeda cite Paratopic, Alien: Isolation and Blackshard as influences, and the studio is also working on another eerie open-world title, Fog'n'Silence, having decided to start a new project rather than take a planned break. Sarco is due for release later this year.