Netflix is pushing deeper into gaming with something that looks less like a traditional mobile title and more like an immersive horror episode that the viewer has to survive. The fun part is that it has to be played through phone movement. The trailer for its new experience opens with a storm, a dark apartment building, and a call between two women that immediately turns wrong.

Claire (played by Stranger Things and Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Sadie Sink) and Ava (The Batman and The Studio star Zoë Kravitz) have a quick phone chat as the power gets cut out. The two of them decide to rent a hotel for the night, all while Claire, who lives in the building opposite Ava’s, notices that the latter is in her room, but the hook is that Claire hasn’t even walked into her apartment yet. Claire says she is “85% sure” she saw someone standing inside from the window, and the footage later shows a figure inside the apartment as Claire walks inside in horror. Everything that happens afterward is pure unhinged panic and chaos.

The game experience from Netflix is titled Unhinged and is now available exclusively through Netflix Games starting June 30. In addition to Kravitz and Sink, there’s also Troy Baker (The Last of Us), who plays Ben, the apartment-building super. The game comes from Night School Studio, the Netflix-owned team behind Oxenfree, and uses the player’s phone as the controller. After scanning a QR code, the phone becomes Ava’s flashlight, call device, text receiver, and survival interface, with Story Mode removing the timer and Standard Mode forcing quick decisions under pressure.

‘Unhinged’ Is Netflix’s Biggest Interactive Step Into Horror Since ‘Bandersnatch’

Although Unhinged is not Netflix’s first interactive experiment after Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and there have been other tried choice-based formats with projects like You vs. Wild, Cat Burglar, Trivia Quest, and other interactive specials, Unhinged pushes the idea closer to a real game-show hybrid.

However, instead of simply selecting story branches on-screen, subscribers use their phone as Ava’s survival device. Calls, texts, flashlight control, timed decisions, and navigation all become part of the threat. That makes it a more significant step for Netflix than another interactive episode. It also matters because the project comes from Netflix Games and Night School Studio, meaning Netflix is treating interactive storytelling as gaming infrastructure now, and if it succeeds, this could pave the way for a new form of immersive gaming and viewing experience.

Unhinged is now available through Netflix Games. 

via Collider