Derail

Derail is a horror game set at a train station at 2:47 AM, after the last train has gone. Each time you climb the stairs, you return to the same platform, where familiar benches, posters and flickering lights may have changed. You cannot run from what is there; you must photograph anomalies with your camera, whose flash erases them. Miss one and the loop starts again.

Spot the anomalies

Study the platform and look for what is wrong. Some anomalies are obvious, some are subtle, and some move when you look away. Raise the camera, zoom in and take a photo to erase an anomaly. You must clear ten platforms to reach Platform 10 and escape. The camera drains its battery while raised; when the battery runs out, you die.

The game draws from a pool of 45 hand-crafted anomalies, and none repeats within a run. Examples include a chalk outline that creeps closer when you look away, a security monitor showing someone where you are standing, Polaroids of you falling from the ceiling, and a map marker that follows you as something else crawls toward it. As you go deeper, fog closes in, lights fail and the station begins to rot.

Scares and messages

A hidden director chooses when scares happen, including when you turn around too quickly, raise your camera or take a photo. Scares do not occur on a fixed schedule, and each one plays once per run. The horror soundscape is fully generated, with no ambience loop repeating within a run.

A photographer named M. was trapped at the station before you and left messages on its walls, visible only through your camera lens. Find all eight to learn what M. discovered and how to get out.

Endings and challenges

How you play determines how the night ends. You can reach the last train, see the morning or remain at the station; there is also a secret way out for those who wander where they should not. The game has four endings, including the secret ending, and optional Shot List photo challenges that recharge your battery.