Haunted Paws: Everything We Know

A dog’s love for their human friends is selfless. They can go to any lengths to ensure that their humans are safe. Indeed, the dogs in Haunted Paws are ready to go to extreme lengths to rescue their human friend from evil creatures holding her captive in a haunted house.

Lazy Flock, a two-person indie studio, announced that it is working on a new game, Haunted Paws, at the OTK Games Expo livestream. Interestingly, the developers described it as a cozy horror game, two words that rarely go together. Naturally, the gaming community is excited to see how this game stands out. Here is a comprehensive preview of everything we know about Haunted Paws to give you a clear idea of what to expect.

What is Haunted Paws?

Haunted Paws is an adventure-horror game based on two dogs on a mission to rescue their human friend from a haunted house. The dogs are adorable, and not all environments are scary, making the game look and feel cozy despite the horror theme. Playing the game involves exploring different environments, digging for clues, solving puzzles, and escaping dangerous situations to ultimately free your human. Notably, the game is a co-op, meaning that you must partner with another player to play.

Story

The story behind Haunted Paws is intriguing, although the developers haven’t shared all of the details. The dogs’ best human friend is kidnapped by monsters and imprisoned in a haunted house. As such, they embark on a mission to find and free their friend. Their mission involves looking for clues, solving puzzles, and escaping dangerous situations.

The story behind Haunted Paws seems simple and even somewhat shallow. However, it is also worth remembering that the game involves a lot of mystery. Thus, the developers were careful not to share too much of the story. Players will learn more about the deeper story as they uncover the game’s mysteries.

Gameplay

Adventure and exploration are the main aspects of Haunted Paws’ gameplay style. You guide your dogs on an adventure across the city as they try to find the haunted house by following their human’s scent.

There is a lot to see in your adventure, as it takes you through streets, parks, gardens, and houses. Interestingly, some environments are charming and look ordinary, while others are scary. Notably, the game utilizes powerful graphics technology for clear and sharp visuals.

You can interact with some environments when looking for clues or solving puzzles. Notably, you must also collect items to help you in your exploration, such as keys, flashlights, books, and more. You can identify where to look or dig by following a foggy trail (your human’s scent) and looking for paw icons.

The gameplay also involves solving various puzzles to uncover clues on where to go next or overcome obstacles in your way. The puzzles vary in design and are quite creative. For example, one puzzle requires one dog to flip a switch to move a bookcase blocking the entrance to a secret room. Another puzzle requires one dog to find a key to free the other dog from a cage.

The scary part of this horror game involves escaping the monsters holding your human friend captive. The monsters come in all shapes and sizes, such as a giant spider and a living scarecrow. Interestingly, each monster has a dark past. Escaping the monsters reveals their past and secrets, freeing them and getting them out of your way.

Every dog is unique, and so are the two doggos in Haunted Paws. You can choose from different popular dog breeds before starting the game. Moreover, you can customize your dog’s appearance in various ways, such as changing their fur color or dressing them in fancy hats.

Notably, Haunted Paws is a co-op game, meaning that it requires two people to play. Each player controls one dog, and both players must work together to explore, solve puzzles, and escape monsters. The game supports a local co-op mode when playing side-to-side with friends, and an online co-op mode for partnering with other players worldwide.

Development

Haunted Paws is the brainchild of Lazy Flock, a two-person indie developer still relatively new to the industry. This will be the developer’s second game after Void Prison, a simple arcade twin-stick shooter game released in 2022. Notably, Haunted Paws will be a major improvement on the developer’s first game, which featured simple graphics and a singular gameplay style. Lazy Flock will also be the publisher.

Trailer

The official trailer for Haunted Paws is insightful and quite enticing. The first scene showcases two dogs roaming different environments as they search for clues to the haunted house’s location. The various environments include paved streets, gardens, and houses. The environments appear well done, thanks to the game’s advanced graphics.

The trailer also showcases the game’s customization system. The customization scene is short and mostly highlights accessories such as hats.

The following scenes showcase the game’s best parts, including the puzzles and monsters. You can see the dogs solving two different puzzles and running from three different monsters. You can also see them uncovering clues and collecting items. Finally, the trailer ends with a scene of the dogs approaching their human friend for a happy ending.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Lazy Flock didn’t announce a precise release date for Haunted Paws. The game is still under development and may launch later in 2024 or in 2025, depending on how fast the two-person studio moves.

The game will be available on the PC platform via Steam. The minimum system requirements for running this game on your PC include a Windows 10 OS, 8 GB of RAM, and at least 2 GB of free space. Unfortunately, the game will not be compatible with consoles or mobile platforms just yet, although that may change over time.

So, what’s your take on our preview of Haunted Paws? Are you eager to play the game? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.