Atrium Mortis

About Atrium Mortis

Atrium Mortis is a roguelite puzzle-adventure where you navigate an endless Roman corridor filled with traps and eerie mysteries. Developed by Hectic, it launched on PC in January 2026. The game drops you into a looping ancient hall where every wrong choice resets your progress. You must spot subtle clues, like shifting statues or color changes in banners, to avoid being consumed by the environment. It’s a tense mix of observation and survival, with a focus on quick thinking and pattern recognition. The single-player campaign emphasizes replayability as you learn to outwit its tricks.

Gameplay

Each session in Atrium Mortis revolves around identifying and bypassing anomalies in a procedurally generated Roman hall. You move through linear corridors, scanning for irregularities, like a statue turning its head or a banner fading to black. Correct choices let you advance; mistakes send you back to Hall 0. The puzzles escalate in complexity, sometimes requiring you to solve a sequence of clues before a trap triggers. Controls are minimal, with mouse-based navigation and quick-time interactions for survival. The tension comes from tight time limits and the constant threat of failure. Sessions often last 20, 40 minutes, blending methodical puzzle-solving with sudden, stressful moments.

What Players Think

Atrium Mortis holds a 72/100 on PlayPile, with 64% of players completing the base campaign. Average playtime is 4.3 hours, though 38% of reviews mention frustration with repetitive resets. Community moods skew toward Tension (78%) and Curious (65%), but Frustration (42%) is common due to unclear clues. Positive feedback highlights the "eerie atmosphere" and "clever red herrings," while critics call it "a puzzle game with too many restarts." Achievements (115 total) include spotting all 12 statue variations and surviving a "haunted corridor" sequence. The price tag of $19.99 splits opinions, some call it fair, others feel the short campaign doesn’t justify it.

PlayPile's Take

Atrium Mortis works best for players who enjoy low-effort, high-tension puzzle games. The $19.99 price is reasonable for the experience, though 4.3 hours of playtime might feel brief for the cost. It’s a niche title, perfect if you like spooky, minimalist environments and don’t mind frequent respawns. The 115 achievements add replay value, but the lack of multiplayer or deeper lore might deter others. Skip it if you dislike punishing difficulty curves or need a longer adventure. For fans of roguelites like The Witness, it’s a worthwhile but imperfect experiment.

Storyline

One wrong door, and the Atrium will swallow you whole. You awaken in an ancient Roman hall that loops forever. The only way out is to identify what doesn’t belong. Statues turning to face you, banners changing colour, footsteps behind you - anything could be the clue. Choose wrong, and you’re cast back to Hall 0. Choose right, and the Atrium lets you progress. But it's not as easy as just spotting anomalies. Sometimes, the anomaly is obvious - the problem is getting past it.