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Space Beast Terror Fright Game Cover

About

Space Beast Terror Fright is a single player and multiplayer survival shooter game with horror, violence and science fiction themes. It was developed by nornware AB and was released on June 3, 2022. It received very positive reviews from players.

S.B.T.F. is a very hard arcade-style / rogue-like / perma-death first person shooter. You play as Marines who must brave dark, claustrophobic and terrifyingly intense Space Beast infested spacecraft in order to extract critical data and lucrative upgrades. Can you make it out alive?

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92%Audience ScoreBased on 1,587 reviews
story18 positive mentions
stability10 negative mentions

  • Intense and atmospheric gameplay that captures the 'Aliens' and 'Space Hulk' vibe perfectly
  • Excellent co-op experience with up to 4 players including local split-screen, encouraging team coordination and communication
  • Procedurally generated levels and high replayability with many customization options for difficulty and game mechanics
  • Game is very difficult and unforgiving, especially when played solo, requiring multiple attempts and can be frustrating
  • Visual effects like intense muzzle flash, screen pulses, and dark environments can cause sensory overload and discomfort, potentially triggering photophobia or epilepsy
  • Small and decreasing playerbase making online matchmaking and finding public lobbies difficult; lack of built-in voice chat and some technical issues like crashes and poor controller support
  • story

    224 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a minimalistic and straightforward story focused on completing missions aboard alien-infested ships by retrieving data cores, disabling reactors, and escaping, with no deep narrative or lore. Its core appeal lies in the tense, procedurally generated missions, cooperative gameplay, and roguelite progression where surviving marines carry upgrades forward, but death results in losing all progress. While the repetitive objective and lack of story depth are noted drawbacks, players appreciate the emergent stories from intense gameplay moments and wish for more mission variety and narrative elements in future updates.

    • “This is not the story of how you eradicated the alien menace and claimed glory for earth. This is the story of how far you and your comrades made it before you died.”
    • “While the overall objective of each mission is fairly straightforward (download data consoles, open the coolant and escape), the tight corridors and frantic, epilepsy-inducing action contrasted with the quiet hunt for cores around the ships is surprisingly atmospheric, and the short mission time means the frequent and fast deaths are not too inconvenient.”
    • “The sheer terror when your 26 mission, super upgraded, ultra-ammo-wielding space marine who just lost his last teammate has to run through an exploding station with active breaches pouring bugs from every direction while your gun display starts flashing and the low ammo alarm starts blaring at you... nothing quite like it.”
    • “There's basically no story at all, and the game can be a bit repetitive, but because there are so many settings to spice the game up, you can play this for many hours!”
    • “There's no story, no lore, only 2 different enemies, and a lot of random upgrades that won't last you very long on account of dying faster than you can even alt+f4.”
    • “Space Beast Terror Fright is very easy to pick up and play, and for every mission you finish you retain the upgrades you got during the last mission, so you just want to keep going and going and going, but the game is very simplistic and lacks any kind of real story or progression.”
  • gameplay

    211 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay features simple but well-executed mechanics that effectively create a tense, immersive sci-fi horror experience emphasizing teamwork, strategy, and permadeath. While it can feel repetitive over time and suffers from some UI clarity and polish issues, the procedural levels, atmospheric design, and adrenaline-pumping core loop keep it engaging, especially in co-op. Though not mechanically complex or visually advanced, its blend of straightforward yet challenging gameplay with dynamic tension and customization options offers solid replayability and addictiveness for fans of roguelike shooters.

    • “The permadeath mechanic adds to the horror element while still letting you feel like an absolute badass when leveling up your character until you inevitably slip up.”
    • “Mechanically you have a really tight little gameplay loop with really well considered mechanics.”
    • “The way the soundtrack automatically jumps and your FOV tunnel-visions when an alien appears in your field of view might initially seem cheap, but it's actually one of the most immersive ways I've seen a shooter implement a horror mechanic.”
    • “A big gameplay issue I had with this game was that you got stronger as you played by getting upgrades, but the game did not scale in difficulty unless you manually cranked it up, which made surviving several games in a row boring.”
    • “The gimmick here is the amount of information thrown at you on the comically oversized HUD, in addition to elements of gameplay that obscure your vision, like your gun blocking half the right side of the screen and the muzzle flash blocking the rest.”
    • “Unclear mechanics, two types of enemies, random upgrades and nothing happens if you "win".”
  • atmosphere

    146 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game excels in creating a dense, claustrophobic, and tense atmosphere reminiscent of sci-fi horror classics like Alien, combining moody visuals, sound design, and music to deliver genuine fear and immersion. Despite simple mechanics and indie-level graphics, it effectively evokes constant paranoia and suspense through its environments, lighting, and audio cues, making the atmosphere the standout feature praised across reviews.

    • “The atmosphere and gameplay loop are both streamlined to near-perfection.”
    • “The atmosphere in this game is perfect; claustrophobic, tense, urgent, terrifying, always pressing you to make those critical decisions.”
    • “Fantastic use of sound, music, field of view, and information-dense claustrophobic GUI elements to create an atmosphere that goes from unsettling while it's quiet to terrifying when death is breathing on your face.”
    • “I believe the sounds need more work so it can create a better atmosphere; also, I think the music should be 100% reworked because, to be honest, that music breaks all the immersion.”
    • “An immediate atmosphere crowds the screen as your gun, UI, and other cumbersome, yet useful, information block your sight.”
    • “There are a few random trolls, and although friendly fire is a good, engaging setting to promote the realistic atmosphere this game has, I will only enable it with my friends because frankly, I have seen my fair share of trolls ruin what has been the longest I have ever slaved to an experience tree in a game ever.”
  • graphics

    121 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics adopt a retro, mid-90s to early 2000s aesthetic that, while not AAA quality, effectively supports its dark sci-fi horror atmosphere and gameplay. Though some players find certain visual effects—like intense muzzle flashes—overwhelming or disorienting, the consistent art style, lighting, and particle effects contribute to a moody, immersive experience that runs well on low-end hardware. Overall, the graphics are modest but well-suited to the game’s tone, with many reviewers appreciating the atmospheric design despite dated or simple visuals.

    • “The implementation of more modern graphics in a retro style make the game age extremely well - after every flavor of the month game dies down most of the time I find my group of friends is always ready to jump back in, and we're always excited to see the updates that Nornware releases.”
    • “Extremely dense atmosphere (like the Alien movies), great gameplay, huge replayability and nice graphics.”
    • “Along with the graphics the lighting engine is superb.”
    • “No graphical options to turn it down, you will go blind if you or your teammate fires their gun (especially if they shoot at you) and it was so severe both myself and my wife finished 3 maps with severe headaches and refund request.”
    • “By no means was I expecting this game to be a AAA FPS like Doom, but the graphics are so muddy and disgusting that it's difficult to tell if you are looking at an enemy or a wall/floor/grate.”
    • “The music suddenly gets really loud and noisy, and suddenly your screen is full of blobs attacking you (monsters have very little detail. There is very little graphical detail in the game at all.)”
  • music

    92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is widely praised for its dynamic, tension-building quality that intensifies with enemy proximity and shifts to silence during power outages, effectively enhancing the horror atmosphere. Players appreciate the adaptive soundtrack's role in creating suspense, adrenaline, and immersion, though some find repetitive tracks or prefer playing without music. Overall, the music, combined with sound effects and visuals, is central to delivering a thrilling, immersive sci-fi horror experience.

    • “The sound design is beyond perfection, with the music dynamically changing when a hulking beast of an alien comes up on your six.”
    • “Playing solo feels like a real horror game; the music sets the mood brilliantly and makes your heart race when things really get going.”
    • “Fantastic use of sound, music, field of view, and information-dense claustrophobic GUI elements to create an atmosphere that goes from unsettling while it's quiet to terrifying when death is breathing on your face.”
    • “All you get is a procedurally generated mess with seizure-inducing lighting on top of below average music.”
    • “There is literally no difference between playing with music and without it, and survival is just as easy without it.”
    • “I believe the sounds need more work to create a better atmosphere, and the music should be 100% reworked because it breaks all the immersion.”
  • replayability

    45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability driven by its procedural generation, randomized levels, and a built-in map editor, providing varied and intense gameplay experiences. Features like daily and weekly missions, evolving game rules, and strong atmosphere further enhance its long-term appeal. While some note limited replay value due to lack of varied objectives or content, most praise the game's endless replay potential, especially for fans of challenging, old-school shooters.

    • “And the daily missions, the weekly "hardcore mode" missions with leaderboards, and built-in map editor increase the replay value greatly for me.”
    • “The randomize function and the ability for game-rules to change and evolve while you're in a map is pure gold for replay value, and the ability to make and play custom maps is the icing on the cake.”
    • “Infinite replayability, insanely fast-paced when action gets going, and stupidly fun, this title ticks all the boxes of a game I'll be playing for years to come.”
    • “Not a whole lot of replay value for me personally.”
    • “Lack of any substance to keep it even remotely replayable.”
    • “The random/procedural generation does little to add to replay value since the only ways to play are gather logs and blow up the place or deathmatch.”
  • humor

    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor shines through its intense and often chaotic gameplay, with funny moments arising from panicked friendly fire, unpredictable enemy behavior, and amusing character reactions. Players enjoy laughing during tense situations, like power outages and near-death escapes, as well as quirky details like random marine names and exaggerated visuals. Overall, the blend of fear and comedy creates a unique and entertaining experience.

    • “At first you'll likely be screaming and laughing at the same time, as you all go full 'game over, man!' in the face of the beasts lurking in all the dark nooks and crannies.”
    • “It's also hilarious when your character panics, you spin around to shoot an alien, but instead unload a full clip onto your partner's chest, and then die because you kinda maybe missed that alien.”
    • “Within this basic gameplay I’ve found enough challenge and suspense to keep me invested over several years (including breaks from it.) I’ve encountered a variety of memorable situations and had many hair-breadth escapes or hilarious deaths.”
  • optimization

    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization reviews are mixed, with some users praising the game for smooth performance, solid controls, and good optimization even on older machines, while others report significant issues such as FPS drops during combat, crashes, bugs, and visual stuttering. Overall, the game shows promise in optimization but still requires fixes and performance updates to address critical gameplay-impacting problems.

    • “I haven't encountered any significant glitches, and gameplay is smooth and well-optimized.”
    • “This is, by far, the most well optimized PC game I have ever played.”
    • “The game isn't hard to grasp, and the controls and optimization are solid.”
    • “Before the game can arrive at that stage, there must be optimizations made for the FPS drop when shooting at an alien -- this is very critical for gameplay.”
    • “First off, there are a large number of bugs in the game, many of which end up crashing the game or preventing it from starting, or causing significant performance issues.”
    • “Mega stuttering, visual bugs, and all sorts of questionable scenarios happen.”
  • stability

    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Stability reports are mixed, with some users experiencing frequent crashes, freezes triggered by lag or fullscreen mode issues, and occasional game-breaking glitches, while others praise smooth gameplay without significant bugs or performance problems even on lower-end PCs. The lack of borderless fullscreen mode and UI bugs are also noted concerns affecting stability.

    • “Just about no glitches or bugs.”
    • “Besides the great gameplay, it also runs great on lesser computers!”
    • “If one person lags or their internet drops out for a second, the whole game freezes.”
    • “I've been trying to give it more time since my initial review, but it's a little too buggy to play apparently.”
    • “And beyond the crashing, there are glitches that will make you die, like astro creeps randomly reappearing on your face.”
  • character development

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users note that the game lacks meaningful character development, with limited player choices, no clear progression direction, and minimal variety at the start. Additionally, persistent account or character continuity across sessions is seen as necessary but currently insufficient.

    • “No direction of character development, no character variety at start, limited player choice all around.”
    • “You need a persistent account/character development across game sessions.”
    • “Very repetitive gameplay and no character variety at the start.”
  • grinding

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding is minimal or optional in this game, allowing players to enjoy casual sessions without the typical focus on gear stats or achievements. User-generated maps often facilitate grinding or combat, but overall the game avoids the repetitive progression commonly seen in others.

  • emotional

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users find the game to be a deeply emotional experience, delivering an intense and captivating roller coaster of feelings that keeps them fully engaged.

    • “It's such an emotional roller coaster and I don't want to get off.”
  • monetization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users appreciate a straightforward, skill-based shooter experience without ads, penalties, or intrusive monetization, emphasizing pure, classic 90s-style gameplay.

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19h Median play time
40h Average play time
3-89h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs
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Space Beast Terror Fright is a survival shooter game with horror, violence and science fiction themes.

Space Beast Terror Fright is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 40 hours playing Space Beast Terror Fright.

Space Beast Terror Fright was released on June 3, 2022.

Space Beast Terror Fright was developed by nornware AB.

Space Beast Terror Fright has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Space Beast Terror Fright for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Space Beast Terror Fright is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include UNLOVED, Contagion, Interstellar Marines, Species: Unknown, Cosmodread and others.