Demo Review: Closer Than You Know

I, like many, love a good cozy game. Something that is easy to slip into but just hard enough to create a sense of challenge and accomplishment. Before I took my brief hiatus from gaming on a grand scale, developer So Peculiar LLC’s Closer Than You Know caught my eye.

Back in my GGA days, I interviewed So Peculiar LLC about being a small, family-run indie developer and publisher looking to create video games that fit their children’s request for a “big kid game.” Originally, Closer Than You Know was set to release in 2025, but the official Steam page now lists it as 2026.

While this wasn’t what I hoped to see, I am excited that it wasn’t shelved altogether. Developing a video game isn’t easy, and when you take into consideration that this is a husband-and-wife duo with kids and other responsibilities, the fact that they have made it this far is incredible.

I was excited to see that the demo for Closer Than You Know is still on Steam, so I decided to dive right in. Right off the bat, the design choice for this game scratches a big itch for me. It features 2D hand-drawn art that is animated to bring the story to life. This gives storybook vibes that match the story itself.

The game follows Sam, a young girl living in Granica where hope is illegal. She’s arrested for breaking the law by inventing a cute toy and tossed in the castle dungeon. This gives her the perfect opportunity to break free, uncover the truth about the current King, and bring hope back to her world.

The Closer Than You Know demo introduces the basic elements that bring the game to life. It’s a point-and-click-based adventure where you search for clues and items to solve puzzles in order to progress further. The few puzzles introduced in the demo were fun to work through and made sense within the world and story. A few of the puzzles were similar to each other, but still felt unique.

I’m excited for Closer Than You Know to officially launch sometime this year. The story has captured my attention, and I want to see Sam succeed and save Granica from grumpy old men. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this and can’t wait to do a full piece when it launches.

Check out the demo on Steam.