Children in the Flesh: Everything We Know

Grounding is gearing up to craft a bone-chilling adventure for fans of horror-ridden affairs. You may know the studio already from their notable works in games like The Good Life and Hyde Run. However, the new game will be entirely entrusted to the younger staff at the studio. As such, the final outcome could go either way. 

Still, the trailer is a fresh breath of air from the rampant survival horror adventures like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. The new game may not reach the same heights, but it sure will offer a nice change of pace dashed with a Japanese aesthetic. To prepare for the launch, we’ve compiled everything we know about Children in the Flesh down below.

What is Children in the Flesh?

Children in the Flesh is an upcoming horror adventure game. While we don’t have all the information on what the game will be about, we speculate it’ll revolve around children trapped in a strange facility based on the trailer. We can depict some sci-fi elements from the video alongside a narrative that unravels through text. Here’s to hoping more concrete information comes up over the coming weeks and months.

Story

Based on the trailer, players will watch children trapped in a strange facility through CCTV cameras. It’s unclear who the children are or why they have been locked away. But as you study them, they appear to be normal. Suddenly, a girl pulls on a lever that enshrouds the entire facility in darkness. A shrieking sound permeates across the room, with distorted images springing up on the cameras. At some point, the shadow of a grotesque monster appears to be possessing one of the children. 

She appears to be writhing in pain, but when the lights return, she’s staring at you through the cameras. Her facial expressions begin to contort in quick succession, leaving us with a myriad of questions unanswered. As such, the story will probably carve out mysteries while relying on suspense. In any case, we hope an official story description is revealed sometime soon.

Gameplay

Children in the Flesh is a horror adventure that will unravel a gripping narrative ridden with overarching mysteries and suspense. You’ll likely follow along the story via point-and-click gameplay, consuming the story via text narration. You’ll also likely have to make tough choices, which, with children at the center of the game, will probably be a lot tougher than usual. It’s unclear whether each child is unique, with a distinct story arc. It’s also unclear who is watching these children behind the CCTV cameras. 

In any case, Grounding has yet to put out an official story and gameplay description. So, we’ll have to be patient and wait for them to confirm the characters, narrative, and gameplay features you can expect in the final game.

Development

Grounding is currently working on developing and publishing Children in the Flesh. The studio has only just announced the game via an X post, revealing that the upcoming game was playable at the BitSummit Drift 2024 event held at Miyako Messe in Kyoto, Japan. Gamers curious to know the look and feel of the game’s story and gameplay signed up to play the prototype demo at the event, which ran from July 19, 2024, to July 21, 2024. 

Grounding expressed excitement over the new game on the X post, further revealing that the younger staff at the studio will be working on it. They confirm that it’ll be their debut game delivered to us by “promising new talents.” Meanwhile, Grounding itself has been in the game for a while now. 

Founded in 2007 with its headquarters in Japan, the studio has delivered an impressive number of video games, including Little Noah Successor of Paradise, The Good Life, Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash!, Hyde Run, Crimson Dragon, Everyone and the Town digital board games, and more.

Trailer

Alongside the announcement was the YouTube link to Children in the Flesh’s reveal trailer. For a horror adventure, the protagonist looks adorably cute. And that may put off some gamers. Still, it’s way too early not to give her the chance to prove her aptitude for horror. At the beginning of the video, someone seems to be watching children through CCTV cameras. Are there people experimenting on these kids?

Something is unnerving about a cute protagonist cast into a frightening universe. Toward the end of the trailer, it appears a grotesque creature has possessed her, her facial expressions contorting in quick succession. She also has a tag on her ear, which suggests that the other “children in the flesh” depicted in the video are like her. And after all, since she seems to be trapped in a strange facility, this may very well be a science-experiment-gone-wrong ordeal. 

Also, the trailer displays all text dialogue and narrative in Japanese. Trailers are often marketing strategies, and so having the text in Japanese makes us question whether the launch will only be released in Japan. It’d also be nice for the new game to have a worldwide release with an English translation. Yet all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Grounding has yet to announce an official release date for the upcoming Children in the Flesh, but they have confirmed that the new game will be coming to Windows PC platforms. Still, we don’t have a Steam store page out yet, and we don’t know if any editions will be available for preorder. 

With plenty of information still kept under wraps for now, we’ll be sure to keep our eyes peeled for new updates and let you know as soon as they come up. But in the meantime, feel free to follow the official social media handle here, where Grounding will be sharing announcements on the new game.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Children in the Flesh when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.