Your next horror binge might call you up directly instead of asking you to press play.
Netflix is returning to narrative gaming with Unhinged, a first-person horror experience from Oxenfree developer Night School Studio that puts players directly inside a home invasion nightmare. The announcement was made on Tuesday (23 June), with a trailer shared via Netflix's official social media accounts:
Launching on 30 June, the game follows two young women living in neighbouring apartments, as an ordinary stormy evening spirals into something far more sinister. The lights don't stay on for long, and getting out alive quickly becomes the priority.
Unlike Netflix's previous interactive experiments, Unhinged is a fully fledged video game streamed through the Netflix platform. Players use their own smartphone to navigate the experience, receive messages from characters, and explore the darkness using a virtual flashlight.
Starring Sadie Sink, Zoë Kravitz, and Troy Baker, the project also marks Night School Studio's latest release since joining Netflix in 2021. In an interview with Rolling Stone, members of the development team shared new details about the game's design, technology, and approach to interactive horror.
Unhinged
Release date: 30 June, 2026
Platforms: Android, iOS via Netflix
Developer: Night School Studio
What is Netflix's Unhinged?
Unhinged opens inside an apartment building during a violent storm. Players step into the role of Ava, voiced by Kravitz, as events quickly spiral out of control when the power cuts out across the building. With the situation growing increasingly dangerous, Ava must find a way to escape while uncovering what is happening around her.
The story unfolds from a first-person perspective as players explore the building, communicate with residents, and make decisions that affect how the night plays out. Every unanswered message, closed door, and split-second choice can send the story down a different route. While the premise sounds like something pulled from a Netflix horror series, Unhinged doesn't leave players hiding behind the sofa. It places them directly in the middle of the unfolding chaos.
Unhinged gameplay explained
The game's most distinctive feature is its use of a smartphone as the primary way players interact with the world. Messages arrive on the device itself, and players also use the phone as a flashlight, pointing it at the television screen to illuminate dark hallways, rooms, and corners of the apartment building.
Movement and exploration are handled through a touchscreen interface designed specifically around mobile devices rather than traditional game controls. The experience also makes use of audio that shifts between the TV and the phone. Conversations play through the handset while ambient sounds continue through the television, helping to create the feeling that the events are happening around the player, rather than simply on a screen. Players are free to make choices throughout the story, from responding to messages to deciding where to go next. As the night wears on, some decisions prove harder to walk back than others.
As Night School founder Sean Krankel explained, “We're not coming for Resident Evil. It's like, 'I want to play a story,' as opposed to, 'I want to get extremely good at or play a game that has a lot of escalating difficulty.'"
Who is in the cast of Unhinged?
Unhinged features a cast led by Sadie Sink, Zoë Kravitz, and Troy Baker. Kravitz voices protagonist Ava, while Sink plays Claire, a friend caught up in the unfolding events. Troy Baker also joins the project, adding another familiar name to a cast that blends Hollywood talent with one of gaming's most recognisable voice actors. Sink is best known for her role in Stranger Things, while Kravitz has appeared in projects including The Batman and Divergent.
How long is Unhinged?
A playthrough can last anywhere between 20 and 50 minutes, depending on player decisions and how events unfold. However, multiple narrative branches and failure states encourage players to return and see what happens when different choices are made. According to Krankel, the team originally experimented with a much larger feature set, including additional conversations and a wider selection of in-game apps, before refining the experience into something more focused. "It's intentionally bite-sized, like a show," said Krankel.
“So you can play it one night and be like, 'What the hell, that was crazy, let's play it again.'” The result is a horror experience designed to fit into an evening in much the same way a Netflix episode would, while still giving players room to uncover different outcomes.
How Unhinged was designed for Netflix players
Night School says accessibility was a major consideration throughout development. The studio looked to games and devices that lowered the barrier to entry for newcomers, including the Wii and Nintendo DS, while building an experience that could be picked up without learning complex controls.
"We looked deeply at the Wii [and] the Nintendo DS," said game director Sam Warner. “I grew up with those, and I think that focus on novel innovative play was something that we really started this game with.” The team's goal was to create something approachable for horror fans regardless of whether they regularly play video games.
“If you've got Netflix and you have a phone, then this is for you.” That philosophy also influenced the game's design. Rather than focusing on mastery or mechanical skill, Night School compared the experience to attractions such as escape rooms and theme park rides, aiming to make participation feel natural from the moment the experience begins.
Unhinged launches on 30 June, 2026 and will be available to all Netflix subscribers.
