Mystery Puzzle
The Initiate
A Deceptive Games Ltd. Release · Aug 1, 2017
A first-person mystery puzzler in which a stranger wakes in a booby-trapped house and must outwit his captor to survive.
Fact Sheet
- Developer
- Deceptive Games Ltd.
- Publisher
- Deceptive Games Ltd.
- Release
- Aug 1, 2017
- Platform
- PC (Steam)
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Indie
- Press Contact
- assets@deceptive-games.co.uk
About the Game
The Initiate is a first-person mystery puzzle game from independent UK studio Deceptive Games Ltd. Players take on the role of an ordinary man who wakes inside an unfamiliar suburban house, only to discover the doors are locked, the windows are barred and every room has been rigged with traps and puzzles. The house itself is the trial — and escaping it is the only way to live.
Across roughly two to three hours of play, the game blends environmental puzzle solving with light stealth, hidden-object investigation and quiet, mounting dread. Notes, cassette tapes and clues found inside the house slowly reveal who the captor is, why the protagonist was taken, and the rules of a much larger game playing out beyond the walls.
The Initiate was Deceptive Games' debut commercial release on Steam and helped establish the studio's signature voice: small-scale, atmospheric, mechanically focused experiences built by a tight team. It later spawned a direct sequel, The Initiate 2: The First Interviews.
Key Features
- ▸First-person puzzle and escape gameplay
- ▸Single contained location packed with interlocking puzzles and traps
- ▸Story delivered through environmental clues, notes and audio logs
- ▸Roughly 2–3 hours of focused single-player content
- ▸Available on PC via Steam
Trailer
Embed: https://www.youtube.com/embed/NmOm_NL0ZAI
Screenshots
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History
The Initiate began as a small experimental prototype exploring a single-location escape scenario. It became Deceptive Games' first commercial Steam release in 2017 and set the template for the studio's later horror and puzzle work.
Press Quotes
"The Initiate was about proving that a tiny team with the right idea can make a player feel genuinely trapped. One house, one captor, and just enough rope to hang yourself with."
— Gavin Powell, Managing Director & Game Director
"Every room had to earn its place. We treated the house like a character — the wallpaper, the lighting, the wear on the door frames all had to tell you something before you'd picked up a single clue."
— Filipe Sabino, Art Director
Credits
- Gavin PowellManaging Director & Game Director — Design, Programming, Production
- Filipe SabinoArt Director — Art, Animation, Visual Design
Game Links
Company Contact
Deceptive Games Ltd
Ty Mentor
Navigation Park
South Wales, UK
Deceptive Games Ltd is a two-person independent studio based at Navigation Park in South Wales. By keeping the team deliberately small — a Managing Director and an Art Director, both senior, both hands-on — every game is shipped without committee, with two experienced developers responsible for every decision on screen.
Other Press Kits
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