Scarlet Deer Inn, the hand-embroidered medieval adventure, launches July 17

Scarlet Deer Inn, the hand-embroidered medieval adventure platformer from Czech husband-and-wife studio Attu Games, has a release date: July 17. A demo is already live on Steam, and it's worth playing before you watch the new trailer — the trailer gives quite a bit away.

The game's defining feature is its art style. Backgrounds are hand-painted, but every character and every frame of their animation was made with a sewing machine, then scanned into the game. That sounds like it's setting up a cosy, gentle experience — and on the surface, it is. Protagonist Elise's introduction drops you into an idyllic medieval world of rolling fields, sun-dappled woods, and gossiping villagers. The humour lands too, not in a joke-every-two-seconds Monkey Island way, but naturally, emerging from characters and situations.

Then the game shows its teeth. Early in the demo, Scarlet Deer Inn pulls a dramatic turn that's one of the more effective tonal shifts in recent memory — and the fact that it happens so soon makes the full game genuinely hard to predict. That contrast between the warm, embroidered exterior and whatever is lurking underneath is exactly what makes this one stand out from the indie crowd.

July 17 is close, and the summer release window is packed. But Scarlet Deer Inn has already earned serious attention — download the demo, go in blind, and save the trailer for after.