What can go wrong on a camping trip? Quite a bit, according to Aura Studios’ newest adventure horror game Buried Below. We’re not just talking burned hot dogs or a ripped tent either! Something wicked lurks deep within the wilderness… and like most terrifying secrets, they don’t stay buried forever.

Buried Below’s demo isn’t very long, but oh, what a spooky picture it paints; impressive set design, unexpected interactivity, and enticing survival horror gameplay come together in a delightfully harrowing appetizer. You can finish the demo pretty quickly, if you’re not too busy crashing into things with your car or exploring like I did, but all the more reason to take the scenic route. Who knows what you’ll find out in the woods?

You Don’t Wanna Go Down That Road…

The Buried Below demo begins, like so many indie horror games as of late, on the road. Well, sort of. The game opens with the protagonist telling his story via a tape recorder, so spoiler alert: he LIVES. When you gain control, however, you’re behind the wheel of a dingy old RV ambling down a lonely mountain road. As is my ritual in horror games that foolishly put me behind the wheel, I dutifully tried my best to turn around, crash, and be an overall menace. You’ll be happy to know that YES, you CAN crash into oncoming traffic in the first few minutes! And yes, the game registers it with a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time-esque ‘whoops, that’s not how it happened’.

It sounds silly, I know, but Buried Below is filled to the brim with little moments like these. Interactions and observing the player’s actions–not so much car crashes. Like those Fears to Fathom games that keep popping up, the protagonist reacts to certain antics. Climb the roof of the gas station? He’ll wonder why you did it. Try to make friends with a black widow spider? Don’t! Ignore the salesclerk’s warning and pop into the staff room? Enjoy the secrets. These are all small examples, of course, but it’s very promising to see that Buried Below rewards exploration. Will they maintain this level in the finished product, or will it just be padding to thwart refunds? Only time will tell…

Happy Campers?

Right, let’s quit screwing around and talk gameplay. The Buried Below demo is, at first glance, your run-of-the-mill indie survival horror game. In the intro alone you can speak to folks, sprint and skulk around, even drive a camper van.

Impressive, non?

What really made me nod, however, was when I arrived at the campsite. Without spoiling too much, the game plops you onto a dark, rainy trail with a torch–yes, a LITERAL fire torch, and yes, it’s a modern-day setting–and a backpack. The latter stores all of your tools of the trade: torches, rocks, keys–all the survival staples–and when you wanna pull something out, the game animates setting your backpack down and opening it.

Besides making for a more immersive game, this also adds a layer of tension to gameplay–I didn’t have any creepy-crawlies to test it on, but the game doesn’t seem to pause when you open your inventory… so, watch where you unpack! 

It seems like players will be unpacking quite a bit in the full release too. You can collect rocks along the trail to use as distractions for… something… and there’s plenty of those in the wide-open map you explore in the latter half of the demo.

All-in-all? There are very good bones on this game. I’m very eager to see where they take us in the final release.

A Quiet Place?

I don’t normally gush about graphics and sound design, but I have to make an exception here. The Buried Below demo has fantastic presentation compared to some other indie horror games out there. Though the graphics are by no means ‘next-gen’–not that I’d want them to be–the game stands on its own in the set design. The gas station isn’t just another asset flip: the road to the campsite feels real while also providing eye candy, and the campsite itself is foreboding as it is impressive.

As for voice acting, the protagonist and his gal pal do a good job, but the ensemble tends to mutter a bit. It’s still a demo, though, so probably easy to fix up in post. The rest of the sound design, however, is excellent: the woods at night are alive with distant critter calls, and even the footsteps you take add to the tension! Hell, Buried Below even added realistic rain effects.

Off the Grid

In conclusion, Buried Below demo stood out in June’s Steam Next Fest. What it lacks in content it makes up for in presentation and leaves you thirsty for more. There are a few references to streamers I could’ve done without if only to preserve the immersion, but aside from that nitpick the game looks great. Ultimately the big question is whether or not Buried Below’s demo momentum will carry through to the final act. Until then, however, definitely try this one out. 

Buried Below was part of the Steam Next Fest: June 2026. As of publication, the demo is still available to play. Check out Aura Studios’ website HERE and join their Discord if you’re hungry for discussion and updates.