Anchor Light Understands That Beautiful Can Still Be Terrifying

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Atmosphere is everything in a horror game, but that is especially true of the anomaly-hunting subgenre. While horror games can rely more on jump scares for their fear factor, anomaly-hunting games thrive when their atmosphere gives players a general sense of unease rather than a momentary fright. This is not to say that the anomaly-hunting genre can’t lean into jump scares to induce fear, but more to emphasize that without the right tone, lighting, sound design, and pacing, spotting anomalies loses impact because the fear comes from players second-guessing themselves, not from a sudden scare. This is something that Deadbolt Interactive’s upcoming anomaly-hunting title P1: Anchor Light has weighed and considered, even to the point of ensuring the beauty of its environmental design contrasts the horror that lies beneath.

P1 Anchor Light Paradise

Set in an opulent, art deco lighthouse, indie game P1: Anchor Light is deceptively creepy, with its horror coming primarily from a lingering sense that something isn’t quite right with the lighthouse, regardless of how beautiful it might look on the surface. During an interview with Game Rant, Deadbolt Interactive lead game designer Antonio Alvarado delved into how P1: Anchor Light doesn’t pride itself on being outright terrifying, but instead gives the player a sense of unspeakable dread that really doesn’t fit in with the aesthetics of the lighthouse.

Anchor Light’s Lighthouse Is More Than Meets the Eye

P1 Anchor Light Lobby

The tendency of anomaly-hunting games is for them to be too aware of what they are. They know players are stepping into their worlds in pursuit of a fear-fueled adrenaline rush, so they generally don’t stray from the standard dim lighting, grimy textures, and overtly unsettling settings. From the first few minutes, these environments tell players they should be creeped out, and what might have felt like an unsafe atmosphere then feels a little more safe, simply because players expect it. P1: Anchor Light, on the other hand, is trying something different, offering players a setting that feels warm and inviting at first, so that the anomalies they eventually find feel like genuine intrusions. Alvarado explained:

“There’s a certain discomfort that happens when you step into a space that you were not expecting. The lavish art deco aesthetic within the space just feels really captivating and brings up so many questions. It’s a space that feels odd, and just wrong. The lighthouse lures you into a false sense of security, which impacts how people first react when they step through the doors. It’s almost like it’s wearing a beautiful mask. What you see isn’t necessarily what you get, and that mask begins to slip and show its true colors the higher you climb.”

P1 Anchor Light Outside

What’s more is that lighthouses are supposed to feel like beacons of safety, not sites for horror. At one point in time, these landmarks served as navigational aids, guiding ships safely along coastlines and into harbors. Some are still used in this way today, though their role has evolved with technology. Nevertheless, that’s what makes a lighthouse such a peculiar setting for an anomaly-hunting game such as P1: Anchor Light. What once symbolized safety and security has now become a home where supernatural horrors roam freely.

The lighthouse in P1: Anchor Light won’t always look as inviting as it does at first, though, as Alvarado explained it as wearing a “mask” that begins to slip the higher players climb. The more progress players make, the more they will see the lighthouse for what it truly is. Interestingly enough, this was a concept Alvarado developed after being inspired by games like BioShock and Dredge, where BioShock even lures players into a lighthouse-like structure after an explosive plane crash, only to take them into something far more terrifying and inexplicable. Alvarado elaborated on those inspirations:

“Lighthouses, open waters, and mysterious lurking threats are some of the things that capture me and all feature in both games. Although BioShock and Dredge differ in many ways, like their objectives, genres, mechanics, and art style (not to state the obvious), there are additional hints to thalassophobia (fear of deep water) and megalophobia (fear of large objects, like buildings or structures) that feature. Those key influences marry together nicely — psychologically and environmentally — and complement the isolation of the lighthouse, which is where the brain starts to raise those red flags, even though, at first, you aren’t sure why.”

P1 Anchor Light Statues

By building its horror on the contrast between beauty and unease, P1: Anchor Light taps into a more insidious side of anomaly-hunting. The game invites players into a place they might normally trust, only to gradually undermine that trust with each step. It’s a design choice that makes every anomaly feel like a true violation rather than an expected jump scare, and it could set Anchor Light apart in a subgenre that often shows its hand from the very beginning.

P1: Anchor Light launches on PC via Steam on September 9, 2025, PlayStation on October 14, 2025, and Xbox on November 11, 2025.



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