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Project: Mortuus Astrum Playable Teaser capsule

Project: Mortuus Astrum Playable Teaser

A first-person cosmic horror short experience set in a hallway-style map, where you uncover the secrets of an abandoned facility while being stalked by a mysterious entity

Free to Play3 user reviews
CasualAction-AdventureDungeon Crawler
Khaled ChayaOct 8, 2025

Project: Mortuus Astrum Playable Teaser scores 72/100 — better than 43% of Casual capsules (n=10,153).

3 user reviews · Free to Play · Released Oct 8, 2025 · By Khaled Chaya

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Quick text summary

Project: Mortuus Astrum Playable Teaser scored 72/100 on Steam Analyzer — Good for a Casual capsule. Top priority fix: [composition] Increase monitor screen contrast and detail clarity—sharpen the figure silhouette and add subtle luminosity contrast to ensure the core horror element reads at thumbnail size.

Capsule scores by dimension

  • Genre Clarity: 7/10 — Horror atmosphere clearly signaled. The decayed industrial setting with blood streaks, hanging chains, and a distressed figure on the monitor immediately communicate cosmic horror and survival dread. At tiny size, the grotesque silhouette and rust-red environment still register as unsettling and genre-appropriate, though the specific 'first-person cosmic horror' subgenre detail is lost at smallest scales.
  • Title Readability: 8/10 — Strong white text, readable at scale. The title 'Project: Mortuus Astrum' uses clean white sans-serif typography positioned top-left with clear contrast against the dark background. At small and tiny sizes it remains legible, though 'Astrum' becomes slightly cramped; the bold weight and strategic placement on the less noisy upper left preserves hierarchy.
  • Contrast & Color: 8/10 — Effective red and white pop. The bright white title text and blood-red accents (window frame, streaks) create strong value separation against the nearly black background. The pale monitor glow and the figure's lighter tones anchor a clear focal zone; in grayscale, the silhouettes maintain distinct edges and the composition reads cleanly at small sizes.
  • Uniqueness & Polish: 7/10 — Distinctive retro-tech horror blend. The juxtaposition of vintage CRT monitor, old keyboard, and disturbing supernatural imagery creates a memorable aesthetic that stands apart from generic horror. The craft feels intentional and thematic; however, the composition leans on familiar haunted-facility tropes without a strong unique mechanic or character hook that would elevate it to premium status.
  • Brand Consistency: 6/10 — Coherent theme, limited icon. The retro-tech palette, blood accents, and distressed humanoid figure align consistently with a cosmic horror identity. However, there is no iconic character, logo mark, or distinctive motif that would make this capsule immediately recognizable as 'Project: Mortuus Astrum' in isolation—it reads more as a strong horror aesthetic than a branded experience.
  • Composition: 7/10 — Clear focal zone, balanced layout. The center monitor with the disturbing figure serves as the primary focal point, flanked by the title left and supporting elements (chains, keyboard, mouse). At small and tiny sizes, the focal depth holds well; however, the composition is somewhat symmetrical and the monitor screen interior detail becomes murky at thumbnail scale, and edge elements like hanging chains risk crop loss.

What works

  • High-contrast white title. Clean, bold typography ensures the 'Project: Mortuus Astrum' title remains readable down to tiny capsule size with strong pop against the dark theme.
  • Thematic visual cohesion. The retro-tech horror aesthetic (CRT, blood, chains, decay) feels intentional and immersive, communicating the cosmic dread premise immediately.
  • Clear atmospheric focal point. The center monitor and distressed figure draw the eye effectively and anchor the composition across all viewing sizes.

What hurts the capsule

  • Generic horror trope reliance. The haunted facility and creepy monitor imagery, while effective, lean heavily on familiar horror clichés without a standout unique mechanic or character identity that distinguishes this from other cosmic horror games.
  • Monitor screen legibility collapse. At tiny size, the figure and details inside the monitor screen become illegible and muddy, losing the impact of the core horror element.
  • Weak memorable brand icon. No distinctive logo, character motif, or signature visual symbol exists that would make the capsule immediately recognizable as a specific project identity on later encounters.

Priority fixes

  1. [composition] Increase monitor screen contrast and detail clarity—sharpen the figure silhouette and add subtle luminosity contrast to ensure the core horror element reads at thumbnail size.
  2. [title_readability] Add a subtle outline or glow effect to the white title text to maintain readability if background elements shift or during Steam cropping.
  3. [uniqueness_polish] Develop a distinctive visual motif (e.g., a recurring symbol, signature color accent, or iconic UI element) that can anchor brand recognition across multiple promotional assets.
  4. [contrast_color] Intensify the blood-red accent saturation slightly to create more visual separation from the browns and blacks and ensure the palette reads as intentional rather than muddy in grayscale compression.

Store copy priority fixes

  1. [feature_communication] Replace "solve spatial puzzles" with a concrete example: e.g., "rearrange objects to access blocked corridors" or "decode access panels using found clues" to help players visualize actual puzzle types.
  2. [hook_strength] Rewrite the closing line to something more specific and unsettling tied to the facility's lore, rather than the generic escape/death binary.
  3. [uniqueness] Add 1-2 sentences in the detailed description explaining what sets this cosmic horror apart—e.g., the specific way the entity hunts, a unique mechanic tied to the facility's theme, or the visual/audio storytelling approach that makes it distinctive.
  4. [audience_targeting] Highlight earlier that this is a short, story-focused experience for players who value atmosphere and narrative over action, to better filter for the intended audience.

Related guides

Steam app ID: 3697220 · Tags: Casual, Action-Adventure, Dungeon Crawler, Hidden Object, 3D