The Crimson Hunt Guide — The Crimson Hunter

This The Crimson Hunt guide covers the systems that decide whether Victoria and Eleanor leave the mansion alive, rather than a room-by-room route. The Crimson Hunt is a third-person survival horror game from solo developer Farelas: you play Victoria, a vampire hunter haunted by her past, working through a Victorian mansion deep in the woods to rescue Eleanor from an ancient vampire that has awakened again. In practice a run is decided by ammunition, healing, light, parry timing and the puzzles that gate the only exit. Everything below comes from the official Steam listing, the developer's own itch.io page and one third-party gameplay walkthrough.

What kind of game it is

Steam lists The Crimson Hunt under Action, Adventure and Indie, released October 6, 2026, on Windows only at $9.59. The pitch is a modernized classic survival horror: oppressive corridors, enemies that punish careless positioning, and a mission built around a single mansion instead of an open world. You can play the whole campaign alone or with a second player in local split-screen co-op, and the store copy stresses that ammunition is scarce, light is vital and every encounter matters.

That last point is what separates this from an action shooter. The game wants you to break contact, count your shots and treat healing as currency. If you are still deciding whether to buy, the release date page has the launch timeline and price, and the demo page covers the free build.

The combat loop and the controls

Combat is third-person and deliberate. Melee, firearms and evasion sit on overlapping inputs, and the official Steam achievement list rewards habits rather than milestones: Parry Master, Swordswoman, Armed and Ready and Smooth Hunter are all named after actions you have to repeat. The intended loop is to block or parry, create space, then land a heavy attack or a headshot instead of trading blows.

The developer's itch.io page publishes the full control scheme, which is the clearest official statement of what Victoria can do:

Input	Keyboard / mouse	Gamepad
Aim	Mouse aim	Right stick
Attack / shoot	Primary fire	Attack button
Heavy attack	Aim input	Aim button
Dodge	SPACE	Dodge button
Block	Hold ALT	Hold block button
Run / Interact / Crouch	SHIFT / E / C	Stick click / Interact / Crouch

Two aim entries share one trigger, which is the kind of overlap that makes early fights feel stiff until the timing clicks. Blocking is a hold rather than a tap, so it is meant to absorb a specific attack, not to act as a panic button.

Resources, light and the UV mechanic

Resource management is the spine of a run. The official store copy says ammunition is scarce, healing is scarce and inventory space is limited, so smart inventory management can mean the difference between life and death. The safe puzzle in the launch build received a clearer clue in the October 7 hotfix, which confirms puzzles are on the critical path rather than optional.

The walkthrough footage shows a UV mechanic: light aimed at an enemy's head is said to blind and weaken them before a finish. That detail appears both in the third-party walkthrough and in a player bug report on the itch.io page about a UV flashlight that a second character keeps after handing it over. The mechanic is therefore documented, but the exact values and durations are to confirm rather than confirmed numbers.

How co-op changes a run

Co-op is local split-screen, with Shared/Split Screen Co-op and Remote Play Together both listed on Steam, so one player can host and stream to a friend. The developer answered the most common co-op question in the launch post: the second character has some extra passive tools that can stun enemies or avoid combat, but no weapon is locked to a character and each player chooses a loadout freely. The practical consequences:

• Either player can carry the dedicated weapons, so decide early who runs the shotgun and who runs the sidearm.
• The second character's stun tools are a support option, not a scripted escort role.
• Treat ammo as a shared pool even though inventories are separate, and agree on who spends it.
• Split-screen narrows your visible field, so call out enemies that come from off-screen.

Puzzles, progression and where to go next

Progression is tracked through 19 Steam achievements, and the names hint at the spread: Collector for pickups, Parry Master for combat, The Truth and The Rebirth for story beats. Story achievements are hidden, so the late-game structure is not documented yet. Puzzles are environmental and mechanical, and the mansion is the map, so a puzzle you cannot solve is usually a room you have not fully searched.

For the surrounding detail, start with The Crimson Hunt on Steam for the store facts, the platforms page if you are asking about consoles, and the review page for what early players actually said.