Preview – MOLE

If there are two things I love, it’s horror and tactile elements. Fortunately, there’s more than two things I love, but if it were only those two things, then MOLE would have me covered.

MOLE is a horror game that cites Iron Lung and Mouthwashing as inspiration, and gosh, that is extremely obvious. MOLE could possibly be described as the nexus of those two games. However, it does have one thing that they don’t. I mentioned it already: tactile elements. And diegetic UI. And if there are two things I love…

TRIPPING OUT BENEATH THE EARTH

MOLE is pretty heavy on the imagery, but even before you get to your first hallucination, you get a taste for that tactile gameplay. In order to navigate the menus, you need to take a cartridge off the shelf and slot it into the computer. Then we can get to some hallucinating.

Essentially, from what I can glean from the rather cryptic plot, you’re part of a team that is digging as deep as humanly possible for the glory of their home country. Apparently, a lot of people have been receiving a signal that causes the urge to dig. They’re beckoned by dead family members, and your character is among them. Of course, you hear the voice of God, as well, so clearly, your hallucinations are real.

The ride to the centre of the earth doesn’t seem to be going well. You aren’t given much detail and what’s gone on to that point, but there’s a dead guy in the lounge, so that can’t be good. Still, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to dig.

RUST AND RECYCLED AIR

Like Iron Lung and Mouthwashing, a lot of the horror comes from the fact that you’re in a confined space. It’s kind of gross, it’s dark, and there’s no way out. It uses hallucinations to tell backstory. Which is fine.

The tactile elements – by which I mean tasks that aren’t automated by an “interact” button and instead have you manipulating objects on screen to complete a sometimes complex process – help make things feel like a job. It makes you feel isolated but capable. It helps make you a part of the game’s world.

Listen, the whole tactile approach doesn’t work in every genre. It would break momentum in an action game. But there are plenty of occasions where it enhances the experience because it is, in itself, a grounding element. So, in horror especially, when you need to be in the moment, having to rotate for screws to take off a vent cover brings you into the experience. I’m happy to see it become more widespread in general gaming. And MOLE utilizes it perfectly. I love it.

ECHOES

The demo consists of what seems to be the first chapter of the game, and it does a great job of setting up the mystery. But, you know what, as I write this, I’m realizing that I’m a bit annoyed that it’s telling a story that is so thematically similar to other horror games in a way that is similar to other horror games.

Iron Lung, for example, tells the story of all stars and life bearing planets abruptly disappearing, leaving only space faring humans still alive, and them finding an ocean of blood on a planet. It’s really surreal and abstract. It’s a whimsical form of horror. And it’s kind of echoed in MOLE’s fixation on digging for an unknown reason.

Telling backstory through hallucinations is pretty worn threadbare through usage. I’m drawing this extremely frustrating blank on similar games that did it, but I know it goes way back to, like, F.E.AR.. I know that PTSD flashback can sometimes work in a similar manner, it’s just, when combined with this style of horror, it seems too obvious. At least they tie it into puzzles, but when so much of the horror relies on the environmental confinement, it seems counterintuitive for the character to suddenly imagine themselves back in their apartment.

I don’t know. I’m trying to communicate that I’m somewhat, lightly hung up on the sense of déjà vu I get from MOLE. It didn’t bother me when playing it, it’s just when I started analyzing the experience that the familiarity started to bother me.

SMELLS FAMILIAR

On the whole, however, I enjoyed my time with MOLE. The demo feels like the right length, giving you the taste of doing important stuff. I get a sense of where it’s heading, and where it’s heading feels somewhat predictable, but maybe it’s not. Maybe it twists real hard and ends up somewhere unexpected.

I’ll probably be watching for the full version. I’m interested enough that I’d play it. Although, I still haven’t played any more than what was in the demo for Mouthwashing. That might be necessary reading.

You can try out the demo for MOLE right now as part of the February 2026 Steam Next Fest.