Necrophosis has a demo, if you're after a "we've already got Scorn at home" experience

What if Scorn, but it's one that your mum got you for Christmas? That's easy, it's Necrophosis, baby. Much like Scorn, Necrophosis is also part-inspired by the dystopian surrealist works of Zdzisław Beksiński, which means lots of plucking brains out of sinewy bodies and plopping them into fleshy receptacles. There's a demo out now and while it's not outstanding, it tickled my curiosity more than I thought it would.

Developed by Dragonis Ares and Adonis Brosteanu, Necrophosis is a first-person horror adventure whose demo kicks off in a similar way to Scorn, but sillier. You, a sundried anatomy model, awaken in a messed up desert following a recitation of William Blake's Auguries Of Innocence. "Blah blah, eternity in the palm of your nan", yeah cool cool - it definitely wants you to know it's very smart and reads lots of books.

Still, visually it's quite magnificent. Flayed corpses and ribs and towering statues that pray to fleshy sacks. One of the first things you've got to do in the demo is run around this arena and figure out what tendril or eyeball goes into what meat pocket, but it's not outrageously difficult - which is good. That was one of my gripes with Scorn, in that its puzzling was sometimes very obtuse. I know I've only played a bit of Necrophosis, but it seems far less intimidating off the bat.

And while I'm no sucker for these sorts of puzzles games, I found myself pressing on with the demo. Besides a bit too much of monsters speaking in riddles, I liked seeing the outcomes of my weird deeds. Like when I fired a bone cannon at a crucifix, then plugged the brain of the corpse into a bone crab. Or when I plucked eyes out of some walls, then granted the gift of life to an abnormal pelvis.

There's no release date on Necrophosis yet, but you can give its demo a go on Steam.