Our Lady of the Drowned Lake, Zero Reporter

About

Amateur reporter Bento films a night fishing trip in a remote lakeside village hoping to uncover local legends. What starts as a quiet documentary project turns eerie when he encounters the Water's Caboclo, a river spirit said to demand tribute. Using only his camera and wits, Bento navigates a tense balance between folklore and survival as the line between observer and participant blurs. The game unfolds through environmental storytelling and quiet moments of unease, with choices carrying real weight in a setting where the lake itself feels like a character. The game leans heavily into atmospheric tension, letting the isolation of the lake and the weight of local myths build dread. Players piece together the lore through fragmented recordings and environmental details, creating a slow-burn experience that prioritizes mood over jump scares. While short, the 2-3 hour runtime packs a focused punch, with a haunting ending that lingers. A quiet but effective entry in the indie horror adventure space.

Storyline

Lakeside communities often tell stories about the Water's Caboclo, a folkloric denizen of rivers and lakes which they coexist with. The Caboclo can help or hinder the local fisherfolk in their work, requiring offerings to be appeased, representing the will of the river or lake itself. In some remote communities, however, the offerings are substituted by a gamble with said creature, a roll of the dice with survival on the line. In all of these customs, the uneasy human-river tension is replicated in the human-monster relationship. -- Geography of Fisherfolk Myths, page 48. Amateur reporter Bento hoped to learn more about this folklore during a night fishing trip, dutifully documented by his camera. What he learned when he gambled with the lake is documented here.