Garage51 will bring fright to four players, though Cordura won’t be available on every platform.
In this cooperative psychological horror game, up to four players must enter a Victorian mansion and retrieve the Roses of the Night before time runs out and the house traps them inside. However, as their sanity fades, their companions begin to mimic them, using their bodies and voices to deceive them from within. Each extraction is a tense race against the clock because the mansion shifts and evolves throughout the night. It grows darker and more disturbing as the bells toll. Procedural layouts, permadeath, and unpredictable encounters make each playthrough a claustrophobic descent into paranoia, fear, and fractured sanity.
Break in, take it, and get out. Science has taught humanity not to fear the night anymore. Culture and reason flourished in an age of technological progress and prosperity, with scholars studying until dawn and decadent parties glowing under electric light. By forgetting the nature of the night, humanity has provoked its rebellion. Every morning, dozens of mansions are found corrupted by night, their halls twisted by its influence. Those who dwell within are no longer themselves, reduced to hollow puppets of the night. Those who dare to enter are slowly lost to their own minds. Yet, greed prevails. Within these corrupted estates, a rare mineral known as the Rose of the Night grows. From it, ambrosia is extracted – a powerful aphrodisiac and neurostimulant coveted by the new aristocracy for their lavish gatherings. The desperate and the reckless are sent night after night to harvest ambrosia from these forsaken places.
Few ever return, but hunger always finds its volunteers. As a contractor, you assign a worker to each incursion. Workers are sent into procedurally generated labyrinths to extract ambrosia from the roses of the night. They venture inside alongside up to three other players. No two nights are the same, and every descent into the mansion reshapes the dangers that await. Surviving an incursion leaves its mark. Workers return bearing scars and coins, which can be used to upgrade their drill and sidearm. This increases their efficiency and the risks they take. Those who do not return are lost forever.
Each worker enters the labyrinth with a radio to maintain constant contact with the control room. Another player oversees the operation from there with access to the map and a powerful lantern. Light and sound are double-edged tools. The lantern reveals safe paths, but it also generates noise. Drilling Ambrosia faster yields greater rewards, but it also draws unwanted attention. The night listens. Disturb it too much, and the creatures that were once human will come for those who break its silence. As night falls, one of the workers begins to lose their sanity. To regain their sanity, they must reunite with a companion. However, there is always the lingering doubt of whether that ally has arrived in time or if the night now wears their face.
When the incursion timer ends, the mansion’s doors seal shut. Any Worker left inside is abandoned to the labyrinth, where they will be devoured by the lurking creatures. Death is permanent, and a fallen Worker must be replaced before the next descent. Each procedurally generated labyrinth harbors a different roaming threat, forcing players to learn new survival patterns with every night they endure. Cordura blends cooperative horror with asymmetric roles, permanent consequences, and a living, procedural mansion that grows darker and more hostile as the night progresses.
Each incursion can have up to four players, with one of them guiding the team from the control room. Fallen workers are gone forever. Permadeath is permanent, and whether or not to recover their bodies and equipment is left to the companion’s discretion. Tight coordination is essential to achieving a clean extraction and avoiding casualties. Labyrinths are procedurally generated with dynamic lighting, so no two incursions are ever the same. As night falls, shifting light and creeping corruption reshape the paths, rendering familiar routes unreliable. Mark the walls to find your way back. Do not blindly rely on the Controller – no one knows how the night will end. Within the labyrinth, the night lures you into traps by calling your name. Those who fall are reclaimed by the darkness and may return wearing familiar faces and voices. The Mimic system enables complex verbal interactions designed to erode your sanity and sow doubt among the team.
With Cordura, Garage51 moved away from scripted jump scares to focus on the paranoia of not knowing who to trust. In these scenarios, silence keeps you hidden; however, if you don’t communicate with each other, you won’t survive. Cordura is in development for the PlayStation 5 and PC, but the release date is unknown.
Source: Gematsu
