A thriller visual novel set in Scottside
Scottside is a non-linear visual novel where you play as a student who has just moved to a quiet, snow-covered town. The alternate 1980s setting mixes ordinary provincial life with robots on the streets, a cyberpunk edge, and a retrowave soundtrack. Everything seems dull until you find something in the woods that was never supposed to be there, and the town's dark secrets pull you in. The story is split into five episodes, each with its own mystery and culmination, while a larger secret runs through the whole game. Your choices matter: there are no right or wrong decisions, only your actions and their consequences, leading to multiple endings.
Playing together with friends
Scottside is a single-player experience, but Remote Play Together lets your friends watch and join in from their own machines. Since the game is built around choices, you can treat it like a group decision: talk through what to do when the story branches, argue over which characters to trust, and see how the consequences play out. The QTE sequences, hacking sections, and sneaking moments give everyone something to react to, even when only one person holds the controls. The characters are based on real people from the creator's tabletop role-playing sessions, so their personalities, pasts, and secrets can surprise you and give your group plenty to discuss.
Before you start
Scottside is in Early Access, so the game is still being developed and may change over time. It is an episodic release, meaning content arrives in chapters rather than all at once. The tone is dark, atmospheric, and leans into psychological horror, thriller, and mystery elements. Expect a story-heavy experience with point-and-click interaction, 2D visuals, and moments where you need to act quickly or think your way past a problem. The setting is an alternate 1980s, not a historical one, with cyberpunk elements woven in.