Published Feb 1, 2026, 10:00 PM EST
Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.
The horror genre has been ridiculously impressive lately, and there are few hubs or platforms where players can find better horror games nowadays than Steam, which recently saw the launch of indie developer Happy Accident Studios’ Terminal Lucidity. It may only be January, but Terminal Lucidity could already be a contender for one of the best horror games this year, and the cherry on this dessert is that it’s free.
Terminal Lucidity’s Steam store page sells it as a puzzle-based game, and that might not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially with how unapologetically unforgiving and challenging it can be. That said, there is also a surprising amount of interesting lore baked into Terminal Lucidity, and the game can’t afford to be overlooked in 2026.
Terminal Lucidity Is Completely Free On Steam
Terminal Lucidity has the same sort of surreal psychological horror flavor as Mouthwashing and is roughly the same length, give or take. Still, as a free horror game on Steam with an emphasis on cipher-decoding and puzzle-solving, Terminal Lucidity may have the edge for anyone who prefers this style of gameplay to a mild ‘walking simulator’ horror game with light, sparse puzzles.
Both games’ stories are fantastic, and yet it is Terminal Lucidity’s acquired taste that is going to set it apart from other superb horror games like it.
Indeed, after 34.1 hours on record and beating the game at 12 hours, Steam user calfromkansas advises that Terminal Lucidity “requires patience, dedication, memory, and willingness to experiment,” and believes it’ll be great for players who favor “tough puzzles, dark world building, systems and ciphers.”
Meanwhile, Steam user xan says that Terminal Lucidity reminds them of the “hacking minigame in Enter the Matrix,” and Steam user Ricc says that “figuring out the first few puzzles was really intriguing. I like how looking for solutions in the game also lets you stumble across story hints and lore.”
It’s A Genuinely Great Little Game
Terminal Lucidity is a curated experience that is “playable to an ending in a single 2 to 4 hour sitting.” However, this doesn’t seem to be the consensus concerning how long it has taken most players already, and for two possible reasons: one, there is no option to save; and two, it’s most certainly and ideally a puzzle game to be played with a notepad at hand so that players can recollect possible solutions and commands.
These reasons could lead some players, such as Steam user Creeel, to leave the game on and open, though playtimes are quite high across the board for Steam user reviews. This suggests that many players are finding Terminal Lucidity difficult, and/or many players are finding it tremendously fun and actively pursuing multiple endings.
English (US) ·