Sorry We're Closed
A survival horror game about love, curses, and multiple endings.
Sorry We're Closed is a survival horror game from 2024, the debut project of À la Mode Games and published by Akupara Games. It first launched on Microsoft Windows, with ports to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch arriving in March 2025.
The single-player experience offers multiple endings and is structured across three phases. Each night begins with the player exploring a city, talking to characters, and deciding whether to assist them. The night then shifts to a combat stage where the player kills demons, solves puzzles, and faces a boss. Exploration uses a third-person fixed camera, but aiming weapons—an axe, pistol, or shotgun—switches to an immobile first-person view. The protagonist can also activate a Third Eye, which stuns nearby enemies and reveals their weak spots, but makes all other damage ineffective. Landing combos on weak points charges the Heartbreaker, a special weapon that one-shots standard foes and is essential against bosses. The Third Eye also factors into puzzle-solving.
The story follows Michelle, a London convenience store worker still reeling from a breakup with her ex-girlfriend Leslie three years prior. After a nightmare where a demon empathizes with her heartache and asks for her devotion, she wakes into another nightmare chased by a bird-like demon called the Dream Eater. The next night, her friend Robyn—a demon herself—points out a scar on Michelle’s forehead and explains she’s been cursed by the archdemon Duchess: unless Michelle comes to love the Duchess in three days, she’ll die. Robyn teaches Michelle to use her Third Eye, which lets her see into the past and the demon world. In an abandoned London Underground station, Michelle witnesses the final moments of a previous victim, millionaire Jenny, who turned into a monstrous rat. Rat Jenny eats Robyn, but Michelle kills her.
Exiting the station, Michelle enters the Duchess’s hotel, a haven for demons and victims, then escapes to an abandoned church guarded by the angel Benedict, Robyn’s boyfriend. Robyn survived, and Benedict advises Michelle to dissolve other victims’ curses and collect their Third Eyes, weakening her own curse enough to challenge the Duchess.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Sorry We're Closed
- Developer
- À la Mode Games
- Publisher
- Akupara Games
- Director
- C. Bedford
- Designer
- C. Bedford · Tom Bedford
- Programmer
- Tom Bedford
- Composer
- C. Bedford · Okumura Music Group · Catton Arthur
- Platforms
- Windows · PlayStation 4 · PlayStation 5 · Xbox One · Xbox Series X/S · Nintendo Switch
- Engine
- Unity
- Released
- Windows · November 14, 2024 · PS4, PS5, XB1, XSX/S, NS · March 6, 2025
- Genre
- Survival horror
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Sorry We're Closed is the debut title of Bournemouth-based À la Mode Games, a two-person indie developer composed of creative director C. Bedford and technical director Tom Bedford. Development began in November 2020 as a side-project during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the developers working on it full-time from late 2022. An announcement trailer was published on 20 October 2023, and the game was exhibited at PAX East in March 2024, with a demo released during Steam Next Fest in June 2024. The game was released on 14 November 2024.
The story follows Michelle, a young woman working in a London convenience store, who is cursed by an archdemon called the Duchess. Over three nights, Michelle explores the city, fights demons, solves puzzles, and confronts other victims of the curse. The game features multiple endings determined by the player's choices in helping various characters, including a demon named Robyn, an angel named Benedict, and others. Combat involves a third-person fixed camera perspective that switches to immobile first-person when aiming weapons such as an axe, pistol, or shotgun. A Third Eye ability stuns enemies and reveals weak points, and hitting combos charges the Heartbreaker weapon.
Reader's Guide
Sorry We're Closed received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic and was named one of the best of 2024 by Eurogamer. Critics praised its narrative, characters, and exploration mechanics, though some expressed criticism at the combat. The game won the award for 'Debut Game' at the Indie Game Awards 2025 after the title was stripped from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 over the use of generative AI. It was also nominated for 'Black Voices in Gaming' and received an Honorable Mention for 'Excellence in Narrative' at the 2026 Independent Games Festival Awards. The game's multiple endings and branching narrative, influenced by player choices among a cast of demons and angels, contributed to its recognition. Its development as a two-person project during the pandemic and its subsequent multiplatform release in March 2025 marked it as a notable indie survival horror title of the early 2020s.
Did You Know?
- The game was developed by a two-person team, creative director C. Bedford and technical director Tom Bedford.
- The Third Eye ability stuns enemies and reveals weak points but negates damage not done to those weak points.
- The game's multiple endings include Michelle becoming the Duchess's right-hand man or being possessed by the demon Lucy.
- The game won 'Debut Game' at the Indie Game Awards 2025 after the original winner was disqualified for using generative AI.
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