You are a newly hired cabin inspector. Your job is to cycle through cabins and determine if they are haunted or not. This game falls into the genre of “anomaly horror”. It’s essentially a walking simulator where you are in the same area, with various changes (or no changes at all) occurring. In this game, you will be looking for things that move, which means that the cabin is haunted. This is a made-up occupation meant for the film industry. You are performing a safety check on the cabins before they are sent away to be in a featured movie or show. It’s a fairly simple concept. Enter the cabin, check if it’s haunted, then exit and push a button to claim if it’s haunted or not. You are aiming to get a specific amount in a row to complete the job.

Here’s what I liked:

Haunted Indeed — There is an eerie feeling while being inside the cabins. A lot of times, you will spot an anomaly and dart for the door. Some of the situations are small movements, while others are actually a little scary and can take some extra time to escape. The cabin has a history, which is explained as you complete all of the different anomalies. The backstory is about a family, a fire, and the deaths of those trapped inside. Even though it’s a small cabin, it can be unsettling because you’re looking at every detail and hoping nothing is out of place. Everything seems frozen in time, then you notice a teddy bear gradually growing in size. Or the father, usually sitting still in a chair, is suddenly following you with his eyes as you walk past him. There are a lot of memorable scenarios!

Short but Sweet — This is a game you can pick up for an evening (maybe even Halloween), and play through it in just one sitting. There are so many choices of things to play out there. I’m sure everyone has some sort of backlog of titles they bought but haven’t even started, especially if you’re into obtaining all achievements in games. It’s nice to be able to get something with a smaller amount of commitment time that still feels like a real game that you will remember and may even enjoy telling other people about.

An Actual Story — Even with it being repetitive and short, there is a reason to pay attention to what’s happening. The various cabin encounters tell a story of what happened on the fateful night of the fire. There are a few scenes that even take you beyond just the cabin, encountering the past in some sort of flashback scene. It’s like a short horror story you can enjoy for a brief moment, yet still have thoughts and feelings after experiencing it as much as you may something that was much longer.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

Sometimes Silly — While there aren’t really that many parts in the game that were silly, just one or two can throw the game off when it comes to atmospheric horror. This is the case here. A few party balloons, and I feel like I’m in a different game that isn’t so serious. This is very minor and hardly a complaint, but I do wish that the mood had stayed the same the entire time.

Can’t Replay Scenarios — Because of the randomness, you may only experience a specific cabin once or twice, even if you play a lot. If you wanted to go back and replay ones you have already encountered, you have to let luck decide if you get it. Why would you want to play them again? I think after finishing the game and seeing the ending, you may want to revisit some of the flashback scenes. Or maybe you want to

Wrap-up

This is a short but sweet mini-horror game that you can pick up for an afternoon or spread out over a few. There isn’t really much to come back to after you finish it, but this is fine because you’ll likely know what you’re getting into if you pick it up. Besides the cool horror part, they have decided to add some silly parts, like balloons falling when you make it through the job. This works fine in similar titles like the Before Exit series, but I’m not a fan of it being in something that’s supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Luckily, there isn’t too much of it. When it’s all said and done, the goal of the game was accomplished. To give you a short experience that you can think about and enjoy. To create a creepy atmosphere that has a few jump scares, but doesn’t go overboard.

Score: Highly Recommended

The Cabin Factory was published by Feardemic and developed by International Cat Studios on Xbox One. It was released on October 16 2025, for $2.99. A copy was provided for review