“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” No other game series has exemplified H.P. Lovecraft’s animating maxim, written nearly a century ago, than the Amnesia franchise.

Conceived in the middle of Penumbra: Black Plague’s development and fine-honed over three years of dedicated work, Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent sent shockwaves among horror fans and the games industry at large when it was released in 2010. Through a combination of tense psychological storytelling, tactile moment-to-moment gameplay, and emphasis on survival and stealth over blunt force and aggression, The Dark Descent quickly grew into a defining work in the canon of horror games, spawning three sequels to date and auguring the arrival of countless spiritual successors, in the form of Outlast and Alien: Isolation, among others.

The story of Amnesia: The Dark Descent’s development, and that of its sequels – Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Amnesia: Rebirth, and Amnesia: The Bunker – has never before been collected in one place; either scattered to the four winds or sequestered to the darkest, cobweb-laden corners of living memory. Until now. 

Featuring anecdotes and insights gathered from interviews with key franchise figures – including Frictional Games co-founder Thomas Grip, Fredrik Olsson, Dan Pinchbeck, Jessica Curry, Rasmus Gunnarsson, Mikko Tarmia, and more – Amnesia: Design Works descends into the catacomb-like vaults of the series’ creation. Exciting new secrets and behind-the-scenes concept art are unearthed and compiled into a four-volume tome of game development history and knowledge that is equal parts fascinating, frightening, and phenomenal.

Brace yourself. Caveat lector. The only way out is through.