Caput Mortum on Switch and Switch 2: A Retro Alchemistic Dungeon Horror On-The-Go
The horror genre on Switch is a mixed bag, but Caput Mortum is hitting that sweet spot of retro-nostalgia without feeling like a cheap cash grab. This retro-styled dungeon crawler has you searching for the secret in a 16th-century alchemist’s lab, and what lives beneath the surface isn’t just dusky beakers and corroded machinery.
Caput Mortum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L.! A Journey to Find the Truth Within
At its core, Caput Mortum is a short, first-person horror experience taking place in France during the 16th century. You’re just a poor sap exploring a tower of forgotten nightmares where there are eldritch secrets to uncover, and everything wants you dead. Monsters have been living within this ancient place, wandering the halls and rooms and looking for anyone foolish enough to block their path.
The developer, WildArts (along with Black Lantern Collective), clearly understands that fear ignites when the creeping dread of being under-equipped is always weighing down on you. The game forces you to pay attention to your surroundings and manage what you can salvage. You have to solve puzzles, piece together the narrative from the environment, and decide whether to fight a creature or hide away until they pass by you.
Now Available on the Switch and Switch 2
Caput Mortum is currently available on the Nintendo Switch and will soon be ready to launch on the upcoming Switch 2 console. The game was launched for the PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox in Aug. 2025 to very positive reviews. Now, that little piece of cryptic horror can be held in the palm of your hands.
Retro-Inspired Gameplay, Stress Included
The game leans heavily into its retro-game inspirations and mechanics. The gameplay only gives you a single working hand to interact with the environment. We have the classic limitation of healing items that can leave you limping around with 1 HP, trying to fend off fiends. There’s also a controller setting that emulates the button mapping of FromSoftware’s 1994 classic King’s Field. If you’re a masochist who misses tank controls and awkward camera movements, you came to the right game.
Scary Atmosphere and Form-Fitting Graphics
Caput Mortum manages to nail the atmosphere, and the visual style is that perfect blend of lo-fi 3D that leaves enough to the imagination to be terrifying. When you see a jagged polygon shifting in the darkness, your brain fills in the gaps with something way worse than a 4K high-res texture could ever achieve. The style is modernized, but the retro vibe is in check, giving you cleaner pixalation with smooth textures.
The sound design is also on point. The ambient noise in the tower does half the heavy lifting. It creates that suffocating feeling of isolation. You aren’t a hero; you’re prey. And that vulnerability is what makes survival horror work. The game tells you to “close the lights and put on headphones,” and they aren’t kidding.
Final Thoughts: Caput Mortum’s a Retro Horror Game Above and Below
This short little horror game doesn’t stick out with flashy pazzazz, but it is packed with atmospheric tension and suspense through and through. Caput Mortum is a terrifying game that utilizes what it has going for it in retro visuals and audio effects. It’s a game that flat-out tells you what it is on the surface: a simple man’s journey to uncovering dark truths and secrets in a horrible place others have forgotten.
