A free demo of an underwater horror sim where you pilot the windowless Sever submarine through an anomalous zone using sonar, a navigator and a drone.
Project SEVER is a horror game from Mehozavr set aboard a submarine. You explore the flooded ruins of a research complex built in an anomalous zone, which was abandoned overnight after a mysterious disaster decades ago. It is distributed through SideQuest, where it was first listed in September 2024.
How it plays
The submarine, called Sever, is both your vehicle and your main tool. It has no windows, so you learn to read its instruments to find your way through the maze of underwater caves:
- A holographic navigator that helps you avoid getting lost.
- Sonar that shows you the surroundings.
- An underwater drone (ROV) for picking up and placing objects outside.
- An onboard nuclear reactor whose power use you must watch, because it can overheat.
The developer describes the sub as an ally rather than an enemy. Some of its equipment looks dated, while other systems are still advanced, and getting good at operating it is part of the game. You cannot leave the vessel in a diving suit, so the drone is your only way to interact with the outside.
The story unfolds as you explore. Your goal is to piece together what happened in the complex and find a way out of the Zone alive.
Comfort
The listing marks it as playable seated, which fits a game spent at the controls of a submarine.
How to get it and what to know
- Price: free. This is a demo containing the first chapter of a larger game still in development, and the developer estimates it takes 2-3 hours to finish.
- Installed from SideQuest; see sideloading on Meta Quest.
- Also on itch.io and on Steam for SteamVR, where the PC version is offered.
- Supported headsets: Meta Quest headsets such as the Quest 3 and Quest 3S, PICO headsets, plus Varjo, Valve Index and HTC Vive on PC.
- It has nine SideQuest ratings so far.
