Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh 2017

The player controls Curtis Craig, a quiet, introverted 26-year-old who works at a pharmaceutical company and often finds himself unsettled by unsettling visions at the office. His days are punctuated by disturbing hallucinations—glimpses of gore and cryptic emails that blur the line between fantasy and reality, including one that even promises him a murderous career from Hell.

One year after his release from a mental institution, Curtis attends regular therapy sessions to untangle a life shaped by childhood trauma: an abusive mother who killed herself and a father who died in an auto accident while working on a top-secret project at Wyntech, the very company where Curtis now labors. As memories resurface, he begins to recall that his father’s project may be connected to a secret thread running through Wyntech’s basement and a mysterious rift that touching the edges of Dimension X.

The tension in the office builds when Curtis’ rival, Bob, is discovered murdered in his cubicle. Although Bob was widely disliked, Curtis had jokingly wished him harm, and the sight of the crime leaves him wondering if he could be capable of murder during a psychotic episode. The tragedy unsettles the office dynamic and tests everyone’s loyalties. Around this turmoil, Curtis navigates complicated relationships: he has been dating his commitment-minded coworker Jocilyn Rowan, but he also becomes involved with a more daring coworker, Therese Banning, who introduces him to the local S&M scene on a first date. Meanwhile, his best friend and coworker, Trevor Barnes, is openly gay, and Curtis confesses to his therapist that he feels drawn to Trevor.

As the period of fear intensifies, Curtis’ supervisor, Tom Ravell, is murdered, leading Curtis to suspect his boss, Paul Allen Warner. Warner had previously threatened Tom during a heated exchange, and this new killing deepens the mystery surrounding who is truly pulling the strings. The following day, Therese is killed after her date with Curtis, further entangling him in a case that police begin to scrutinize more closely. Curtis unravels a thread that ties the murders and his visions to Threshold, the project his father worked on with Warner, and the strange, hidden science Wyntech pursued.

Decades earlier, Wyntech uncovered a rift to Dimension X in the basement and sought to monetize teleportation technology for the United States government. They conducted experiments first on animals and later on mental patients supplied by the corrupt Dr. Marek, who oversaw the asylum where Curtis would later be committed. Desperate for results, Warner exploited Curtis’ father, bringing the child to the lab and using him as a test subject—though Curtis was quickly returned from the rift. The project stalled when the military showed little interest, but it woke again when Warner learned that Dimension X inhabitants could synthesize any chemical, at the cost of components and a few “human specimens.” Warner’s plan was to unleash this power to create a highly addictive antidepressant/weight-loss drug, binding humanity to Wyntech and making the corporation unassailable.

As Curtis edges closer to the truth, his therapist and Trevor are murdered, leaving him to confront Warner directly. In a dramatic turn, the humanoid creature known as the Hecatomb incapacitates Warner and declares itself a manifestation of the “real” Curtis Craig. The story reveals a startling twist: the child Curtis who returned from the rift is an alien duplicate, while the real Curtis was trapped in Dimension X, subjected to grotesque experiments that granted him vast psychic powers and madness. The real Curtis, acting through the Hecatomb, had orchestrated the murders and hallucinations to drive the duplicate insane so he could reclaim the life he believed had been stolen. The duplicate escapes the Hecatomb through the Dimension X portal, kills the real Curtis, and returns to Earth.

The Ratwoman appears as a chilling figure in the orbit of Curtis’ experiences, adding another layer to the surreal danger that stalks the workplace and its secrets. Jocilyn suddenly reveals that she knows the truth, and a message from Dimension X is heard, asking Curtis to return home because he does not belong on Earth. The game presents two endings: Curtis can leave Earth to spend one final day with Jocilyn, or he can choose to remain. If he stays, the ending shows Jocilyn discussing everyday plans with Curtis, who sits with a clenched, anxious fist under the table that briefly morphs into a grotesque alien shape. The scene hints at the ongoing struggle between the two versions of Curtis and what it would mean to stay or depart.

Before either ending, the game suggests that Curtis may have sent Warner through the rift, sealing his fate in Dimension X. A post-credits scene intensifies the cosmic horror, showing Warner’s still-living severed head suspended in bio-organic matter within Dimension X, a haunting reminder that some doors, once opened, cannot be easily closed.