Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2025
Dead Format
Developer Katanalevy
Dead Format is a survival horror game set in iconic film eras. It's 1990s Scotland, and your brother has gone missing after becoming obsessed with a mysterious new VHS format. Follow his trail through the tapes and uncover why the government wants to ban "Video Ghastlies". From the Steam store page
77 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
77 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
169 of 204 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
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Reactions
60 of 77 · most liked firstThe demo for Dead Format is now on Steam! A first person survival horror game that lets you explore various iconic film eras. Also featuring live action film clips with homemade practical fx! store.steampowered.com/app/3399290/...
unlabelledView post →We're publishing a very special game called Dead Format Use VHS tapes to travel into 4 different worlds inspired by different eras of cinema. Silent Film, Giallo Thriller, Found Footage, and Body Horror. The atmosphere and sound design are top notch
unlabelledView post →One of the hardest thumbs downs I've ever given, but I have to be honest here. I really, really wanted to love Dead Format, and I genuinely wish I could sing its praises, because it’s blatantly obvious how much work went into the project: from the various short films created specifically for the game, to the three distinct VHS worlds with their unique identities, there’s a lot to like here. My problem is mostly the fact that a handful of player-unfriendly design decisions seriously hold the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/UyvWuuCV2UY Gameplay: Very Good Story: Good Graphics: Good Music: Excellent Here I will leave the cat, friends who pass by can pet it and give it a thumbs up ／＞ フ | l ／` ミ＿xノ / | / ヽ ﾉ │ | | | ／￣| | | | | (￣ヽ＿ヽ)__)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Streaming tonight at 8pm MST (about 3 & a half hours) on @joystick.tv! Tipping menu's have been redone. Come watch this hellhound play horror game demos! Maybe more? 😳😘 I'll be playing Death in Abyss, Divine Frequency, and Dead Format! joystick.tv/t/u/hottesth...
unlabelledView post →Dead Format Demo now on Itch! A first-person survival horror game with live action film clips. It's a love letter to different eras of horror films and inspired by a time of horror censorship in the UK (unfortunately this feels oddly relevant again today).
unlabelledView post →Please, add achievements. It'll sell more copies of this amazing game, I don't make the rules. I just want to start off with saying that I was blown away by this game! I just saw a few teaser shots and that's how I recommend going into it, like I did, rather blind. The mechanics are very forgiving. It is also VERY Resident Evil-coded with its limited inventory, stash, combining and inspecting items. That familiarity really helps to just get into the story. It also has well-placed hiding…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just finished the game, and it only took me 3 hours to beat, and it was one of the most tedious 3 hours of gameplay I've sat through in a long time. [ Positives ] The aesthetic, the level design, the live action movies were fun, the music was good, the puzzles while there weren't many were good, it started off so promising. Like...visually, this game is pleasing to its' core...which is such a shame as I get into the negatives. [ Negatives ] The limited inventory and RE style item…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd give it a neutral if the option existed, but right now I'm leaning towards negative so I went with that. Graphics are cool, vibes are there, puzzling is alright, nothing spectacular though. As others have said the problem is the pursuer type enemy that shows up tape 3. It's the focus of the game at that point and it's just not interesting at all. It's not scary, it's not challenging, it just pops up every minute or so to bother you. You don't actually have to stop moving when it shows up,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was incredibly disappointing. I was very attracted to the concepts and visuals shown on the store page. Dead Format then makes a fairly strong impression in its first 40 minutes. And then... The whole game sort of falls apart. -The more live action clips you see the more clear that they are simply not well made, not just imitating low brow horror. -The initially charming series of reference to horror films by Cronenberg, Carpenter and Argento begin to ring hollow as the narrative…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have not played the demo, bought the game and not one bit dissapointed. It´s pretty captivating and nicely done with the stoyline Loving the atmosphere! Music is good, nothing out of this world but fits perfectly to the atmosphere. Makes me feel I am back in the 90s somehow , VHS were awesome, untill used too much XD Not one single crash or bug , runs pretty smooth! Also, Dev looks extremly active on the forums! Big plus!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DEAD FORMAT - Fantastic Scottish VHS Analog Horror Game [Demo] This was excellent. Easily the best demo I've played in a very long time. Go wishlist this game on Steam! Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3399290/... Watch: youtu.be/5YYmpzy9YL0
unlabelledView post →My review of the horror game Dead Format: www.gtogg.com/News/en/Dead... I wish I could've loved it, but its various issues (including the Alien: Isolation-esque stalker mechanics) really hold it back. It looks incredible visually, though. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #horror #horrorgame #review
unlabelledView post →Today: Going to start a couple hours later than usual to make sure I have the energy to watch The Game Awards tonight! Also, I'm gonna check out Dead Format before TGA. Stream in 2h30m.
unlabelledView post →DEAD FORMAT - Survive VHS Horror Movies From Different Generations | Fantastic new horror game by @katanalevy.bsky.social Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3399290/... Watch: youtu.be/ocRuM1S24ak
unlabelledView post →Dead Format is a love letter to the VHS horror era across different genres. You play as a man searching for his brother across 3 different horror tapes, each with their own style, story, enemies, and puzzles. I played the full game before any patches came out to address some feedback that was given to the dev, so my review will mention what I experienced vs what has been changed. The Good: The game looks and sounds fantastic. I really had to stop and admire the details and level design in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This has potential. I can't fault that. My initial draw to this game was the aspect of 'going into' the tapes and encountering different enemies in each one. The demo really thrilled me, however, about where the demo ended is where you're introduced to the main antagonist who then proceeds to constantly pursue you through the tapes and never letting up. She spawns far too frequently and outright replaces one of the enemies that is foreshadowed in one of the tapes. I wanted to enjoy this, I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played a game called Dead Format which I got sent a key for back in December. Now I feel bad for not touching it until now. It’s really really neat. 40% on steam too right now (I’m not being paid I promise, the game is just cool).
unlabelledView post →Dead Format is a horror walking simulator game with clever puzzles to solve and several minor shooting elements. In this game you collect horror VHS tapes, play them in a living room, and then get transported into the horrors that are on the tapes. There are 3 main VHS tape worlds that you explore, each one with a very distinct style. The first is a black and white gothic town themed area, the second is a grimey underground sewers / laboratory, and the third is a haunted mansion with blown out…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →YES. I actually love this game. It's a little heartbreaking to see some mixed reviews for this game considering I've played significantly worse asset flip games that have glowing praise for little more than just a high quality stock asset placed in volumetric lighting. This game though...boy...it hits all the right notes for me and that's coming from someone who has easily hundreds to thousands of hours in indie horror. Let it also be known that I played this one after the patch for the stalker…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →escape from 90s Scottish Video Nasty VHS tapes in the survival horror game Dead Format, they shot real footage just for the game!
unlabelledView post →Haunted VHS Tapes | DEAD FORMAT | Excellent Indie Horror Game www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Hu... #CJUGames #DeadFormat #Katanalevy #HorrorGame #HorrorGames #HorrorGaming
unlabelledView post →It may have slipped under a few radars, but the excellent indie horror game Dead Format by @katanalevy.bsky.social is out and its fun as hell! A creepy horror survival game where you explore the secrets of a sinister video format, delving first person into the many tropey genres of B-movie flicks.
unlabelledView post →A fantastic idea for a game turned extremely frustrating by the lack of inventory space and not being able to stack items not even ammos, very slow walk speed (for the amount of backtracking you will have to do) and a stalking monster (and the sometimes very unclear hiding spots don't help either). A lot of my frustration with the game would be solved by removing the inventory limitation or adding at least twice as much slots and being able to STACK ITEMS,
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is so close to a complete homerun, but it's held back from being truly great by a really bad design choice to include a pretty lame stalker enemy with braindead AI. If I was grading it purely on the presentation alone, this is an easy 10 out of 10. The visual style of each tape is impeccable and perfectly replicates the horror genre each one is going for. Some of the visuals in the silent film in particular are among the best I've seen in any indie horror game. I found the puzzles to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished Dead Format. A game about cursed horror VHS tapes that you go into to find your lost sibling. A concept that is so unbelievably cool, with different genres of horror to explore & figure out. The environments are so beautiful, gross and wonderful to explore. Visuals are this game's strength.
unlabelledView post →[Dead Format] SCOTTISH VHS GAME!? SIGN ME UP! www.twitch.tv/himikohellho...
unlabelledView post →Uncover the mystery of cursed VHS tapes in 1990s Scotland. Dead Format brings analog horror to life, daring you to press play. Catch the beefy 40% launch discount before it ends Feb 6📼 Beware what hides in the static (honestly you had me at 1990s Scotland)💀 #SurvivalHorror #IndieGame #DeadFormat
unlabelledView post →On another note, we finished Dead Format on stream this week and I feel sad that I don't like the ending. I LOVE the game. Great mechanics, beautiful visuals, good polish, interesting story, feels like the devs had fun and put their passion into it... Only for the ending to be underwhelming );
unlabelledView post →The feeling of stepping into the movies is INCREDIBLE, and each one is a beautifully crafted setting with its own unique style. The puzzles and level designs are very inventive and the monsters are pretty terrifying. People have been having issues with the stealth, saying you spend a long time waiting for the Stalker to go away. You don't have to wait. You can sneak around, peep over/around obstacles, throw telephones to distract it or just shoot it to temporarily incapacitate it. If it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →STARTING A NEW HORROR GAME "DEAD FORMAT" twitch.sktn.tv yt.sktn.tv
unlabelledView post →Dead Format é um #indiegame que combina a nostalgia do cinema anos 90, fitas VHS e horror de sobrevivência com um jeito único.
unlabelledView post →Played the Next Fest demo for Dead Format, and it's definitely on my radar now. The use of FMV clips for the in-universe schlocky horror films is fun, and I like the concept of going into different B-movies and mixing elements across them. store.steampowered.com/app/3399290/...
unlabelledView post →Coming soon to Casette This game looks fantastic. I cannot wait for a full release. #gaming #indiegames #horror #deadformat youtu.be/xMtSapfrn2c?...
unlabelledView post →For my horror game and mixed-media lovers out there, the FIRST demo for Dead Format is now available to play! Use illegal VHS tapes to venture through iconic film eras. By the one and only @katanalevy.bsky.social, it's truly something wonderful. Give it a try 📼 katanalevy.itch.io/dead-format
unlabelledView post →really REALLY wanted to enjoy the game and was hyped with the demo but the full game is just too difficult, and repetitive. enemy's respawn every time you change the tape or die so you run out of ammo really fast, you can take three hits before you die but with no auto save you have to run all the way back home take the tape out (respawning enemies) and then you can save. back tracking is fine but with this it takes to long and nothing is really hinted at or explained. the vulture lady…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked about a sold 80% of this game. The puzzles and swapping movies was really cool, I wish there was a better hint system because I am a fool sometimes but overall enjoyable. The movies were fun to watch and you can tell that the person who made this really enjoyed them, I would watch those kind of corny scenes way too much. It's beautiful. I love the scenery and they all felt so unique and different it was fun. Having to move back to your safe location because the effects the world had…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i love it in concept, but my steam deck chugs this game even on the lowest settings, and the cutscenes didn't work. i will repurchase when i have a better device
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Felt like an amazing game with great logic and presentation until the pursuer type enemy like everyone else has said. He has no cooldown so you just end up feeling like you're wasting time constantly once he appears. Went from an amazing experience to just an ALT+F4. Really looking forward to a patch and finishing my playthrough if the devs decide to do another one. Edit: This was after the stalker adjustment patch they already did. It just really needs a cooldown and they didn't add one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →****LIVE**** Dead Format begins NOW. It's a 1990's horror nostalgia trip. Join me! (The Game Awards coverage starts at 5:30pm EST.) zeke3.tv
unlabelledView post →I want to love this game sooo badly. The aesthetic is incredible, the concept of entering the VHS tapes is fantastic, and the fact that they filmed shorts for the VHS tapes you can watch before entering them is incredible. I was having such a great time.... Until the stalking enemy shows up in tape 3. I just can't stand the game mechanic of playing hide and seek with an invincible monster while trying to solve puzzles. I don't find it fun or scary, just frustrating. It's even more…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →True and honest: A long time, there was no game that made me sit with open mouth in front of my computer simply being fascinated of what I see. "Dead Format" made was this for me. + When I watched the trailer, I thought that it is mostly FMV sequences that I see, made in VHS aesthetics. I couldn't beliebe my eyes when I realized that these are in-game graphics. I couldn't stop pressing F12 to make screenshots to show my friends - and always mentioned: "It looks even better in motion!" +…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Brilliant idea, rough execution. One of those games that quickly becomes more tedious than scary. My main complaints come down to: 1. Inventory management - I think this is a critical component of horror games, but here I cannot find merit in the tape combination system. These items are so plentiful that there isn't really much choice for what you want to make, and they quickly clutter up your 8-slot inventory, which would be sufficiently restrictive if you were just finding the items and not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dead Class Note that this game takes most people three to five hours to finish. I am (1) not good at most games, and (2) a scaredy cat, so I used stealth nearly 100% of the time, which is extremely slow and part of why the game took me 20+ hours total (edited down for my let's play videos) to complete. The developer is a Scot, so take "Dead" in the sense of "very" for my review title. It is crystal clear that Katanalevy put a lot of love and work into this game, from the mini-movies he made…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Your brother is missing after becoming obsessed with a mysterious new VHS format. Follow his trail through the tapes and uncover why the government wants to ban "Video Ghastlies". Read our full review to learn more on Dead Format: somanygames.co.uk/review/dead-...
unlabelledView post →Dead Format is an analog horror game by Katanalevy and Oro Interactive, where every VHS tape opens a new nightmare to explore #DeadFormat #OroInteractive #IndieGame #Indiedev #Videogame
unlabelledView post →Every movie you play jumps in you into a world of that genre. Coolest idea for a game in ages! Let's see what happens. #HorrorGaming #HorrorGames #IndieHorror #IndieGame #IndieGaming @katanalevyGames ⚠️NEW VIDEO⚠️ DEAD FORMAT - INSANELY COOL IDEA FOR A VIDEO GAME youtu.be/Rt69Z6Aenl0
unlabelledView post →More indie horror games today? Yes! I am planning on playing DEAD FORMAT, which is a game where you are trying to find your lost brother inside VHS tapes. Looks really interesting. I'm excited to try it out! twitch.tv/sevlore #deadformat #indiehorror #indiegame #vtuber #envtuber #twitch
unlabelledView post →A love letter to horror schlock trapped in a mediocre game. The live-action filming and practical effects are genuinely great; they're both funny and creepy, and the general vibe of the game is fantastic. It's got fantastic graphics too, and there's some fantastic individual horror sequences interspersed throughout the game. Unfortunately the game itself is pretty bad. A slow, plodding 'horror' game where you're given way too many resources and the core enemy can only be hidden from...…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dead Format is a strikingly atmospheric survival horror experience that wears its cinematic influences proudly while experimenting with form in ways that feel both nostalgic and unsettling. Developed by Katanalevy and published by Oro Interactive, the game draws heavily from VHS-era horror culture, grounding its scares not just in monsters and darkness, but in the uncanny feeling of obsolete media and forbidden imagery. Set in 1990s Scotland, it frames its horror through obsession, loss, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →2. (If you're willing) try to pay it forward. 3. Tell people about the game. So, the games in question. 1. Isopod @sbug.games 2. Spooky Express @draknek.bsky.social 3. Dead Format @katanalevy.bsky.social 4. Loco Motive @robustgames.bsky.social 5. Hypogea @ccharnul.bsky.social
unlabelledView post →It's a good game but the ending s*ck and the antagonist, while easy to deal with, is super annoying and will slow down your progress a lot for seemingly no good reason. I feel like it's only the way it is to prolong your playtime. Straight up the second you start running it will spawn, you will hide, it will leave and spawn again the second you start running another time, so you're alway walking to not wake it up in these massive maps and wasting your time moving at snail pace. Apart from that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very different to anything else I have played, I love it! https://youtu.be/j1vHwlLFVpA
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is so much to enjoy in this game. The environments are unique, well thought out, and all fun to explore. The live-action cutscenes, which are always my favorite, add another layer of charm, and the game has a wonderfully campy feel. Even though it leans on the familiar “VHS = scary” idea, it’s executed thoughtfully and feels especially enjoyable for movie fans. You will go back and forth a lot to the apartment because of the save system and between different worlds, but I loved some of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today I Played: Dead Format Listen the game gets lost in the sauce sometimes, but I really love this one, it's like being thrusted into really artsy home horror movies from the 80s/90s, only the monsters are absolutely real and want to kill you, recommended. #horror #indiegames s.team/a/3399290
unlabelledView post →Haven't finished yet, but overall would highly recommend. Game is unique, beautiful, filled with heart, and very fun to play. The Puzzles are challenging and highly rewarding, the world is very interesting. There are some performance issues like frame rate drops and screen tearing, and I had the game crash once. But the gameplay makes you think like any survival horror game should, and though the stealth and combat are relatively simple, they are sufficient to make the game fun and interesting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can wishlist Dead Format on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3399290/...
unlabelledView post →A flawed game with extreme amounts of charm chock full with references to different horror movies. If you ever watched Videodrome the plot will quickly become really familiar to you although the game mixes in elements from different horror films including The Thing, They Live, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and much more. But what is the game itself? It is a first-person puzzle adventure game with light classical survival horror elements. I say light because very quickly the game turns from you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very short review for a very short game. This is an uncertain recommend. The game has so much heart, and the concept is amazing, but the ending was just so abrupt and unfulfilling. So many loose threads and no real answers. I'm assuming that this is for a future title, but if not then I'm probably going to change this review in the future. The enemy variety was also very weak. There's only like 4 enemies in this game, and two of them are functionally the same with different health values. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Time to dive back into the VHS horror tapes! I'm continuing my playthrough of Dead Format today, right now, on twitch! twitch.tv/sevlore #deadformat #indiehorror #indiegame #twitch #vtuber #envtuber
unlabelledView post →
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