The Thing That Should Not Be 2026

In the fog-shrouded town of Mirefall Reach, something ancient has awoken. What was once a quiet coastal settlement has become a place of whispers, missing persons, and impossible geometries. The locals speak of shadows that move against the wind, of dreams that bleed into waking hours, and of doors that should not be. You are an investigator—one of the few who still dares to seek the truth—drawn here by cryptic letters and half-forgotten folklore. Armed with little more than a notebook, a revolver, and dwindling sanity, you must uncover the source of the corruption before the town is swallowed entirely by forces older than humanity itself. Your task is grim but clear: locate the cursed sites where the veil between worlds has grown thin and “close” them. Each location—whether it be the overgrown cemetery, the abandoned Hospital, or the Sanatorium, whose halls hold unspeakable things. By confronting the horrors that dwell within and performing the necessary rites, you can weaken the growing influence of the Great Old Ones. But every step deeper into the town’s secrets comes at a cost. Sanity frays, resolve is eroded, and the very fabric of reality begins to tear. Your final destination is ‘The Pit’ from which The Thing That Should Not Be will awaken.

You need to stop it before “it” does…

In this game, you are not a hero of legend. You are a desperate soul fighting against the inevitable. The dice you roll are your fragile tools and fleeting moments of clarity in a world sliding into cosmic madness. Will you seal enough locations, grab the spell book and close The Pit to delay the awakening… or will you, like so many before you, become another footnote in the continuing nightmare?

—description from the designer