{"id":52077,"date":"2025-09-18T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52077"},"modified":"2025-09-17T18:16:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T09:16:30","slug":"upcoming-horror-game-cling-to-blindness-is-played-blindfolded-forcing-players-to-rely-on-sound-to-navigate-an-abandoned-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/upcoming-horror-game-cling-to-blindness-is-played-blindfolded-forcing-players-to-rely-on-sound-to-navigate-an-abandoned-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Upcoming horror game Cling to Blindness is played blindfolded, forcing players to rely on sound to navigate an abandoned village\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While it\u2019s not uncommon for horror games use the cover of darkness to hide their horrors, solo Japanese indie game creator Lizardry\u2019s latest work, <strong>Cling to Blindness<\/strong>, does away with most of its graphics in favor of immersive sound design. As a girl named Satsuki, players will have to hear their way through the ruins of an abandoned village to complete a ritual.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Disclosure: The publisher of this game, PLAYISM, is part of Active Gaming Media, the owner of this website.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u300eCling to Blindness\u300f\u767a\u58f2\u767a\u8868\u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ov4h5o42mKk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Performing the ritual requires Satsuki (you) to follow three rules:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#eaeaea\">1. You must never take off your blindfold.<br>2. Do not let Ashioto (an unknown entity that is hunting you) catch up to you.<br>3. Collect all five ofuda talismans.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\"><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from the sounds of wind chimes, which designate the locations of the talismans, another important audio cue is Ashioto\u2019s footsteps. The louder the footsteps get, the closer Ashioto is to catching you. The gameplay loop revolves around making your way closer to the wind chimes while avoiding Ashioto\u2019s ominous footfalls.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cling to Blindness also features some iconic Japanese voice actors. Mariya Ise (the Japanese voice of Himeno in Chainsaw Man and Serie in Frieren: Beyond Journey\u2019s End) lends her talents to the role of Satsuki. Kotono Mitsuishi (Misato in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mei Mei in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Boa Hancock in One Piece) serves as the voice of an ominous character known as \u201cThe Guide.\u201d Considering The Guide\u2019s title, perhaps the character will also serve as a sort of escort as you fumble your way through the ruins.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"864\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horror-cling-to-blindness-20250916-357925-002-1536x864-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52083\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horror-cling-to-blindness-20250916-357925-002-1536x864-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horror-cling-to-blindness-20250916-357925-002-1536x864-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horror-cling-to-blindness-20250916-357925-002-1536x864-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite an almost complete lack of images, Lizardry highly suggests playing Cling to Blindness with a blindfold on. Visible menus that allow you to open the game and tweak its settings can detract from the experience, and the game\u2019s ending may be prematurely spoiled if you look at the screen too soon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A good pair of headphones or earphones also seems necessary, as they will allow you to better pinpoint the origins of sounds. Since the game is played from a first-person perspective, moving your mouse to the left and right will change where you are \u201clooking,\u201d which is denoted by a difference in the locations of sounds. Hitting left-click on the mouse will cause you to move forward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the game features no jump scares, it will be interesting to see how Cling to Blindness attempts to scare players through sound alone (it is also designed in such a way that even non-fans of traditional horror will appreciate it). Considering Lizardry\u2019s past titles, <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20220124-8911\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7 Days to End with You<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/interview-how-personality-test-game-refind-self-sold-over-200k-collaboration-developer-publisher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Refind Self: The Personality Test Game<\/a>, draw upon their players\u2019 puzzle-solving capabilities and psyche respectively, Cling to Blindness may end up being a 1-1.5 hour exploration game that subverts expectations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cling to Blindness is set to release on PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3962330\/Cling_to_Blindness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>) in 2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Developed by Refind Self: The Personality Test Game developer Lizardry, Cling to Blindness releases on Steam in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":52081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie-games","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Upcoming horror game Cling to Blindness is played blindfolded, forcing players to rely on sound to navigate an abandoned village\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Developed by Refind Self: The Personality Test Game developer Lizardry, Cling to Blindness releases on Steam in 2025.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/upcoming-horror-game-cling-to-blindness-is-played-blindfolded-forcing-players-to-rely-on-sound-to-navigate-an-abandoned-village\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Upcoming horror game Cling to Blindness is played blindfolded, forcing players to rely on sound to navigate an abandoned village\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Developed by Refind Self: The Personality Test Game developer Lizardry, Cling to Blindness releases on Steam in 2025.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/upcoming-horror-game-cling-to-blindness-is-played-blindfolded-forcing-players-to-rely-on-sound-to-navigate-an-abandoned-village\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-17T19:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250917-52077-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"765\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Upcoming horror game Cling to Blindness is played blindfolded, forcing players to rely on sound to navigate an abandoned village\u00a0 - 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