Silver Pines, the survival horror metroidvania from Wych Elm and Team17, launched on October 8, 2026, with some of the strongest reviews any horror game has received this year. The PS5 version holds a 90 on Metacritic and the PC version an 85, and the game costs $24.99 at full price.

For a smaller studio's release, that puts it in the same conversation as the season's big-budget scares. Here is what critics are saying, where you can play it and what each edition includes.

Silver Pines official screenshot of the small town
Silver Pines is a 2.5D survival horror metroidvania set in a half-abandoned American town. Image: Team17

Silver Pines reviews: what critics are saying

At the time of writing, Metacritic shows a 90 for PS5 based on 10 critic reviews and an 85 for PC based on 14 reviews, both rated "generally favorable." Pure Xbox also reported an 87 on OpenCritic, with 93% of critics recommending the game, shortly after reviews went live on October 6.

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Some of the highest marks came from CGMagazine and Radio Times, both with 10/10, DualShockers with 9.5, which described it as a love letter to David Lynch, and GamesRadar+ with 9/10. The Guardian gave it 8/10. Not everyone was won over: Checkpoint Gaming scored it 7/10 and felt the blend of horror and metroidvania did not fully click.

The comparison that keeps coming up is Twin Peaks meets Silent Hill, told as a side-scrolling 2.5D adventure.

Developed by Wych Elm and published by Team17, the British label best known for the Worms series, Silver Pines got its October 8 date back in June, when a PC demo also went live on Steam. That demo let players sample the opening well before launch, and the full release now arrives on every major platform on the same day, including both Switch models.

Scores can still move as more outlets publish, especially for the Xbox and Switch 2 versions, which had only a handful of reviews on Metacritic when this story was written.

Silver Pines price, editions and platforms

Silver Pines is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store. On its official Steam page, the Standard Edition lists at $24.99 and the Deluxe Edition at $31.99, with a 10% launch discount running until October 22. The Deluxe Edition adds the digital artbook and the soundtrack.

PC requirements are modest. The minimum spec is a Core i5-4460 or Ryzen 3 1200, 8 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 660 Ti or Radeon R9 270X, and the game needs just 5 GB of storage. Steam also lists Brazilian Portuguese among its supported languages.

Silver Pines official screenshot of a tense encounter
Silver Pines is out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2 and PC. Image: Team17

What is Silver Pines about?

You play as private investigator Red Walker, who arrives in Silver Pines, a run-down American town that looks like it was left in a hurry. A mysterious phone call tells him to find missing musician Eddie Velvet, and the search drags him into the town's buried past and its nightmares.

Its look is a big part of the appeal: hand-painted, rotoscoped animation with a neo-noir style, and a cast of unsettling townsfolk who keep their secrets from outsiders. Team17 sums it up as a love letter to classic survival horror from a 2.5D perspective.

Silver Pines official screenshot showing the hand-painted art style
Hand-painted, rotoscoped animation gives Silver Pines its neo-noir look. Image: Team17

How Silver Pines plays

Silver Pines follows classic survival horror rules: limited inventory space, scarce ammo and medicine, and a constant choice between fighting the town's creatures or avoiding them. Its metroidvania structure means locked doors and hidden paths open up as you find better tools and weapons, with puzzles and boss fights along the way.

A free demo is still available on Steam if you want to try the opening hours before buying.

Silver Pines official screenshot of exploration and puzzles
Locked doors and hidden paths open up as Red Walker finds new tools in Silver Pines. Image: Team17

Should you play Silver Pines this Halloween?

If you like slow-burn mysteries and older survival horror, the reviews make a strong case, and the price is low for a game scoring this well. If you want something heavier on action, it shares its launch day with a very different take on horror.

That game is Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, a first-person survival horror shooter. For more ideas, see our list of the best horror games to play this Halloween.