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the static speaks my name
A dark/sad/weird/funny first person exploration game. You play a man on his last night alive as he obsesses over a mysterious painting. More of a story game in that it emphasizes mood and character over gameplay. Takes ten minutes to play and has "next-gen" features like a shrimp tank.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
38 of the 75 reviews raise this.
“I came for the next-gen shrimp tank. I left with depression. Not actually; I had that prior to playing. But this game emphasizes the throes and nuances of feeling "off." It's free and takes only about 10 minutes to play…”
“Eat a shrimp, Pisss allll over bathroom, end on a noose. This is real life.”
15 of the 75 reviews raise this.
“I came for the next-gen shrimp tank. I left with depression. Not actually; I had that prior to playing. But this game emphasizes the throes and nuances of feeling "off." It's free and takes only about 10 minutes to play…”
“that was interesting, it takes like 10 minutes to play and is very dark”
“when I played this game, I didn't know what to make of it and I was just like "huh?" It is indeed very weird but then I watched Markiplier's playthrough and only then I realized what this game is actually about.…”
6 of the 75 reviews raise this.
“A creepy, unforgettable little game and a piece of dark art.”
5 of the 75 reviews raise this.
“I came for the next-gen shrimp tank. I left with depression. Not actually; I had that prior to playing. But this game emphasizes the throes and nuances of feeling "off." It's free and takes only about 10 minutes to play…”
“♥♥♥♥♥ он сьел тех креветок, все равно повесился же. Немного ♥♥♥♥♥ игра. Но за свои деньги топ. Все что бесплатно, нельзя дизлайкать.”
4 of the 75 reviews raise this.
“Playing this for the first time ten years after its out and I can tell you: it holds up. This is still way more unsettling, odd, and engaging than the majority of indie horror games today, let alone then. Glad I finally…”
8 of the 75 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“A tool for the masturbatory desire to remember that life could be worse, but that would never happen to you, would it?”
3 of the 75 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“good game but i left and it destroyed my progress so that should change if possible”
“cool concept. But my god not being able to adjust this fast ass sensitivity drove me nuts. And it kept crashing so i didnt really get to play”
3 of the 75 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
Counted across 75 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 81.9% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Sad. I love how the brain tries to survive, tries to find something meaningful, even if it's two palms on a island. Something to keep going. Hope.”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played“awesome seafood dinner simulator, thumbs up!”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played“From the way this game is talked about I expected way more than what I got. Not a clue if I'm missing something but I went through twice, did as much different stuff as I could work out and had the exact same experience of completing ~5 tasks that take ~15 seconds to complete…”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-04 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie, RPG, Free To Play |
| Player tags | Free to Play · Psychological Horror · Indie · Horror · Dark · Short · Walking Simulator · First-Person · Adventure · Singleplayer · RPG · Multiplayer (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player |
| Languages | English * * |
| Official site | http://www.thewhalehusband.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP+ Graphics: Graphics card: DX9 (shader model 2.0) capabilities; generally everything made since 2004 should work. DirectX: Version 9.0 Storage: 66 MB available space Additional Notes: Made in Unity 4.6. Should run on most computers purchased within the last six years.