Most prison stories are about getting out. PROCEDURE ZERO begins with a stranger premise: a prison that doesn’t transfer people; it erases them from the paperwork. DELANIVO GAMES, a one-person Polish studio, has a free first-person stealth demo on Steam ahead of a November 12 launch.
The Prisoner Known Only as ZERO
You play an auditor who, during an internal review, discovers a mysterious second ledger and makes a copy. Then you wake up in cell C-17. The prison record lists no name and no charge, only the word “ZERO.” Someone is trying to permanently erase you from the official files, and you must escape and trace who is behind it.
The game layers psychological pressure over conventional stealth. The Steam page teases its tone with a line about someone not on any record still knocking at the door.
Inside, cigarettes are the only currency, and every piece of information you need to escape carries a steep price. You trade with or oppose characters who each hold their own desires and secrets, including Prisoner 214, Suchy, who runs the front gate, and Kantor, who controls everything that passes through it, goods and communication alike.
Reading Patrols, Claiming the Prison
The core of play is learning the guards’ patrol routes precisely. You calculate sight lines and noise ranges, slip in and out of restricted areas, and distract guards using whatever is around you, such as a radio left playing or a burning cardboard box.
You can sometimes lure a guard into a space and lock him in. Collecting evidence is part of the appeal: rosters, transfer ledgers, notes hidden under bunks.
In the full version, each time you isolate a guard and close a deal, you take over another section of the prison. Areas you’ve secured light up on the map, while unexplored zones stay hidden behind thick fog to keep exploration tense.
According to the Steam page, the game commits to strictly nonlethal stealth with no weapons. Running and focused actions drain energy, and being spotted costs you cigarettes. Detection does not mean instant game over, so you get another try. Psychological scares appear often, such as the lights going out and coming back on with a bunk that was occupied now suddenly empty.
What the Demo Covers
The demo opens with your arrival at Block C as a prisoner missing from the register. You find a hidden key, turn on a radio to draw a guard from his post, and move while he investigates the sound.
The second mission, set in Section A, features a blackout. Your only tool is a flashlight, and a beam touching a guard gets you spotted. You then hand over cigarettes and learn the code to an isolation cell. The demo ends when someone starts knocking at the door.
A Solo Developer, and an AI Disclosure
DELANIVO GAMES is a one-person studio in which Polish developer Łukasz Twardowski handles planning, design, production, and publishing. In the press materials, Twardowski said he wanted to build a prison where information is the most valuable resource, with play built around reading patrols, trading what you have, and slowly taking control.
The Steam page’s AI disclosure states that pre-generated tools were used for character voices, sound effects, the opening scene, translations into languages other than Polish, and key art and logo. The developer says the output was curated and edited by hand, and that the game does not generate new content with AI during play.
Text is available in 23 languages, with a Korean interface and subtitles. Full voice comes in six languages.
Who This Is For
Strong fit for: stealth fans who enjoy reading patrol patterns and improvising distractions; players drawn to nonlethal approaches and tension built from resource loss rather than combat; those who like prison and bureaucratic-conspiracy settings with an economy of favors; Korean-language players, who get full interface and subtitle support.
Cautious fit for: players who care about AI use in game production, given the developer’s disclosure of AI-assisted voices, sound effects, translations, and key art; anyone who needs hands-on impressions beyond the roughly 25-minute demo.
Less ideal for: players who want action or combat as a way out of trouble, since the game is built around avoidance; anyone who dislikes psychological scare moments.
The Takeaway
PROCEDURE ZERO builds its tension from a clever inversion: your enemy is not a guard but a filing system. With cigarettes as money, information as the real prize, and a map that slowly clears as you earn each area, the design hangs together as a stealth-economy loop rather than a simple hide-and-seek. The 25-minute demo is available now, the game appears in Steam Next Fest from October 19 to 26, and the full release follows on November 12.
Free demo on Steam. Next Fest: October 19-26. Full release: November 12, 2026.
Information regarding ‘PROCEDURE ZERO’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | DELANIVO GAMES |
| Publisher | DELANIVO GAMES |
| Genre | First-person stealth, psychological horror adventure |
| platform | PC (Steam) |
| Play Mode | Single player |
| Trial version | Released on September 14, 2026 (First two missions, approx. 25 minutes) |
| Steam Next Fest | October 19–26 |
| Release date | November 12, 2026 |
| language | Text in 23 languages (Korean interface and subtitles supported), Full voice in 6 languages |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
