Retrieval

Retrieval is a psychological horror game set in a single house that loops endlessly. Each time you walk through the door, the environment shifts: lighting changes, the atmosphere becomes more oppressive and reality begins to glitch. You search the changing rooms for clues and use them to uncover what happened.

Explore the house

Memory Fragments appear in unexpected places as the loops change. You examine and read these physical objects to extract keywords. The fragments appear in chronological order, gradually building the foundation of the story.

Search the terminal

An old desktop computer is your only tool for breaking the cycle. You enter extracted keywords into its database, which returns no more than four results per search. By reading the diaries you unlock, you can deduce new, hidden keywords and delve further into the system to trigger the next loop.

Reconstruct the story

The narrative combines linear 3D Memory Fragments with non-linear 2D diary entries. You move between first-person 3D exploration and an interactive 2D desktop terminal as you piece together the story.