Silver Pines: game overview and walkthrough guides

What is Silver Pines?

Silver Pines is a survival horror metroidvania developed by Wych Elm and published by Team17. Released on October 8, 2026, it combines a missing-person investigation with interconnected exploration, puzzles and limited resources.

You play as Red Walker, a private investigator searching for musician Eddie Velvet. The setting is a small American town in 1993, with the investigation leading through its buildings, hidden passages and surrounding mysteries. Team17’s introduction outlines the premise and the relationship between survival horror and exploration.

Investigate a town that opens as your tools improve

Progress comes from searching for clues and equipment, solving the problem blocking your route, and discovering where a new item can be used. Locked doors and hidden paths are part of the town’s structure. Better tools and weapons let you revisit places that were previously inaccessible.

That is the practical meaning of the metroidvania label here: finding a tool can make an old location relevant again. In the opening, for example, the boxcutter gives you a way through tarp barriers. Learning what an item changes is as useful as remembering where you picked it up.

Notes, calendars, room information and other environmental details also serve the investigation. The game asks you to connect clues rather than treat every obstacle as a combat encounter. Our opening walkthrough follows the route through the General Store and Crimson Bear Motel to the ferry, with the relevant keys and puzzle steps.

Decide what each fight will cost

Supplies are limited, and combat draws from several resources at once. In the official developer AMA, Wych Elm describes encounters as a trade between ammunition, melee durability and health. Using a melee weapon can save bullets while putting Red closer to danger.

Money has competing uses too. Coins are used for telephone saves as well as newspapers and vending machines. Choosing when to preserve progress therefore belongs to the same resource economy as choosing what to buy or how to deal with an enemy.

These systems give exploration a practical purpose beyond advancing the story: searching a room may produce the supplies, clue or tool that changes your next decision. For exact opening puzzle solutions, follow the walkthrough rather than expecting a fixed code to solve every lock; some information is specific to your save.

Rotoscoped characters and a 1990s horror influence

Silver Pines uses a 2.5D presentation. The official Behind the Pines art blog describes filming live movement and drawing over it frame by frame for rotoscoped character animation. Photographed textures, edited artwork and 2D sprites are combined within 3D environments.

The team identifies 1990s television and film, including Twin Peaks and The X-Files, among its influences. Its stated direction emphasizes tension and suspense. The private-investigator premise, period setting and visual techniques are useful context for understanding the game before entering its opening mystery.

PC release and practical details

Detail	Current information
Developer / publisher	Wych Elm / Team17
Release	October 8, 2026
Steam platform	Windows
Players	Single-player
Controls	Full controller support
Handheld	Officially Steam Deck Verified
Languages	English voice acting; 10 interface/subtitle languages

The Steam store page lists the complete requirements and language table. Its minimum PC requirements include 64-bit Windows 10, 8 GB RAM and 5 GB of storage; check the CPU and graphics requirements there as well.

As of October 21, 2026, the earlier Steam demo is no longer available through its former store page. The pre-release demo promotion ended at launch, so use the current full-game listing when checking availability.

Start with the opening walkthrough

The Silver Pines opening walkthrough covers the General Store freezer, the motel guest ledger, pool and suite items, and the route to the ferry.