Developer Unmapped Path is comprised of writer and game designer Joel Haddock and author and all-around creator Chris Klimas, who also created the popular open-source interactive fiction software Twine. They previously worked together developing games under the name Twofold Secret, but upon founding Unmapped Path in 2016 they set out with a goal of creating meaningful native experiences on mobile devices using Twine technology. They developed a proprietary engine they call Disbound which can adapt Twine-based interactive stories into a native experience for mobile without having to recode or rewrite anything. They’ve worked on a handful of collaborative projects over the past few years, including Andrew Schneider’s excellent Nocked!: True Tales of Robin Hood ($4.99) on iOS, which was originally a 400,000+ word Twine game that Unmapped Path wrangled into a native iOS experience. Now they are on the brink of releasing their very first original project developed entirely in-house. It’s a work of interactive fiction (no surprises there!) called Night in the Unpleasant House, and you can see the trailer for it below.

Night in the Unpleasant House is described as “a classic tale of revenge, local politics, pseudoscience, questionable botany, love, and loss." As the protagonist you are looking into what caused your father’s mysterious disappearance a decade ago, and what it has to do with his employer at the time, who also happens to be the Mayor. Over the years you work your way into the Mayor’s inner circle and finally discover the location of his fabled house that is described as “a place where his enemies vanish, only to return gibbering, mindless lumps… if they return at all." You’ll need to explore this unpleasant house looking for clues and making decisions that will ultimately lead to one of the game’s 13 different endings. Will you discover the secret of your father’s disappearance? And more importantly, will you even survive through a night in the house to even be able to tell anyone about it if you do? While no specific pricing or release date has been revealed, we do know that Night in the Unpleasant House will release on iOS sometime this month. Interactive fiction is one of the very best fits for mobile devices and it looks like we’ll be getting another great entry in the coming weeks.