Hollowbrook – Apartments is a narrative-driven exploration game set within a single residential building. The player assumes control of Jenny, a recent tenant who experiences a night of unusual and escalating events. The game confines all activity to the apartment complex, using its structure as both a map and a narrative framework. As the storm outside isolates the building, the player uncovers what lies behind its locked doors, malfunctioning systems, and traces of prior occupants.

Gameplay Approach and Structure

The core of Hollowbrook – Apartments is interaction with the environment. Players examine rooms, inspect objects, and make small but significant choices that alter the flow of the story. There are no combat mechanics; the challenge lies in reading the surroundings and deciding when to act or wait. Each section of the apartment block contains distinct clues that link together, forming a sequence of cause and effect. When Jenny encounters danger, checkpoints allow progress to resume without restarting from the beginning, maintaining momentum through repeated attempts.

Flow of Play

A standard session of Hollowbrook – Apartments unfolds through a repeating structure:

•         Begin the night as Jenny explores her apartment.
•         Discover items, documents, and signals left by former residents.
•         Decide how to respond to disturbances or unexplained events.
•         Continue exploration after each checkpoint or outcome.
•         Reach one of several endings determined by prior choices.

This structure transforms the building into a living system that reacts to player behavior and records each decision within its space.

Narrative and Interpretation

The game’s storytelling relies on environmental context rather than explicit dialogue. The apartment block acts as the central narrative device—walls, furniture, and sounds contain traces of previous actions. Each room becomes part of a timeline that the player reconstructs through observation. Jenny’s experience shifts depending on curiosity and caution, producing variations in pacing and sequence. What happens inside the complex depends less on external threat and more on the accumulation of small decisions.

Development and Purpose

Created by Yetiface Games, Hollowbrook – Apartments continues the broader Hollowbrook project as a short, standalone experience. Released in 2025, it is designed to be completed in one sitting and focuses on clarity of interaction. The game demonstrates how a single interior location can sustain narrative depth through repetition and consequence. It turns limited space into a system of exploration, memory, and gradual discovery, emphasizing structure and decision over action or spectacle.