The Somnus Fracture

For some people, sleep doesn't come on its own.

Alex Reed is an architect who hasn't slept properly in months. He has signed up for Project Somnus, an experimental treatment at the Umbral Facility: lie down under the array, close your eyes and let the machine do the rest. A calm voice talks him through every session and promises to be there when he wakes.

Each session drops him into a Somnisphere, a dream made from pieces of his life. There is a sunlit garden, the office where he worked, the town he grew up in but can't name, a lodge in the forest and a road in the fog. Every time he wakes, the facility is a little more wrong. And in every dream, something is waiting for him.

Survive the hunts

The Entity stalks the dreams, and when it finds you it runs. Break its line of sight or find somewhere to hide. If it gets too close, the band on your wrist can shock it back, but the same band keeps count of your breath, so every sprint costs you something.

What you do

• Carry real light. A lighter burns away the growth that seals doors shut. A flashlight's violet beacon drives back what lives in the forest.
  
• Put things back. Repair cracked mirrors, set rooms back the way he remembers them, and step into memories where the lamps come back on and the place is whole again for a moment.
  
• Read what's left. Notes and letters, a journal that keeps what you have found, and paper maps you hold in your hands with a compass.
  
• Fall through the cracks. Between chapters the dream slips into places built like a console game from 2002: a street after dark, a hedge maze, a forest trail and a roadside services at night.

Made to be heard

The sound is mixed for headphones, with a separate mix for speakers. Each place has its own quiet theme, and one piece of music plays only when you are being chased.

Built in its own engine

The Somnus Fracture runs on Somnium, an engine built alongside it. It has ray-traced shadows, bounce light and water reflections, FSR 3 upscaling and frame generation, and an experimental path tracer for anyone with the hardware to spare.

Comfort and accessibility

• Captions for speech and for sounds, with adjustable size and background
  
• Gentler hunts, reduced flashing, reduced camera and hand motion, and reduced distortion
  
• A colour-blind option for the band
  
• Remappable keys, hold or toggle for crouch and run, field of view and look sensitivity

This game contains flashing images. The Reduced flashing option in Comfort softens them.

A game by Adhiraj Bhagawati. Original narrative by Canberk (Jan) Sonmezer.