As a child of the ’90s, I still retain a nostalgia for the days of MS-DOS. My time with Microsoft’s old, text-based operating system was mostly spent using basic file-browsing functionality or booting up classic PC games such as Doom and Theme Park, but the scroll of letters that resulted from even the simplest of actions still made me feel a bit like a hacker. New horror game Split, from the creator of the brilliant Buckshot Roulette, embraces that feeling in a dark tale of infiltration and command lines. It’s out now, will cost you just $3, and is going even cheaper for launch if you’re fast.
Split (or s.p.l.i.t, to give it its official branding) is a short new indie game from Mike Klubnika, the mind behind 2024 sensation Buckshot Roulette. It’s every bit as grimy and low-fi, its atmosphere and sense of place alone enough to stake a claim to join our best horror games of 2025. Rather than follow the more replayable, multiplayer format of their last outing, however, Klubnika has opted for a short, solo experience that will likely last you just one to two hours, but is sure to stick in the memory for much longer.
Depicted from a first-person perspective, you sit at a gloomy desk as one member of a crew of hackers aiming to infiltrate “a superstructure of unethical electronics.” Your battlestation hums with the orange-on-black glow of command prompts and IRC chatrooms. You’ll need your best gaming keyboard to hand, as typing is required to communicate with your comrades, run software, navigate directories, and execute commands. Plan carefully, and help your team uncover and exploit “vulnerabilities hidden deep below legacy code and engineering.”
The terminal feels very true-to-life, so you’ll likely have a headstart if you have familiarity with the basics of MS-DOS (or its modern Command Prompt equivalent), but don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar. Between speaking to your crew over IRC and making use of the ‘help’ command where needed, you’ll be able to pick up everything required to see events to their conclusion. With two divergent outcomes, your tale can differ, but I wouldn’t expect any happy endings.
Split is out now on Steam, priced at $2.99 / £2.49. There’s an additional 15% launch discount available, meaning you’ll pay just $2.54 / £2.11 if you buy it by Thursday July 31. Head here if you’re ready to put your old-school hacking skills to the test.
Looking for more memorable narratives? Here are the best story games on PC. If your home setup still resembles the scattered 4:3 screens of Split, it might be time for an upgrade to the best gaming monitor in 2025 (although I certainly respect the aesthetic).
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