Heilbronner Kreuz is a horror game based on the tragic event of 1954, when a school group with their teachers disappeared without a trace in the Austrian Alps. You are one of the students on the fateful day of the disappearance. Will you find a way to escape or will you face what is lurking in the fog ?

Concept and Gameplay

We based our story on a real tragedy that happened in 1954, when a group of schoolchildren and their teachers from Heilbronn disappeared in a snowstorm while hiking in the Dachstein Mountains in Upper Austria.

Heilbronner Kreuz is a horror game focused on exploration, solving puzzles, and collecting items necessary to escape a monster that is relentlessly hunting you.

Game Design 

We decided to make the game from the POV of one of the victims, who got separated from the group during the snowstorm. To immerse the player in the lonely, cold atmosphere of brutal snowstorms in the mountains. The game is designed in black-and-white tones, with no bright colors, with film grain recalling photos from the incident and reinforcing the horror theme. Red blood serves as a striking accent, guiding the player and offering hints during gameplay. This color contrast enhances the sense of tension and unease, keeping the player on edge as they advance through the game.

Creators

• Bartek Barc 
• Mikołaj Mościcki
• Gabriel Biskup 
• Michał Ciok
• Yaroslav Chupakha
• Janset Ece Koç
• Yelyzaveta Tarasova
• Jeremi Surzyn
• Sofia Tantsiura Shpitz

Other

• Additional 3D Modelling: E_M
• Trailer:  Silu
• Voice Actor: Szymon Zakrzewski
• Texture Assets: ambientcg.org
• Sound Effects: BBC Rewind