Game: Mimic
Developer: Ryan Laley Games (solo)
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror Social Deduction
Players: 5 in matchmaking · up to 10 in private lobbies
Early Access: October 27, 2026
Platforms: Steam · Epic Games Store (PS5 & Xbox in 2027)
Shown At: 28 GAMES LATER Horror Showcase
👽 Mimic enters Early Access on October 27 on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Inspired by The Thing, Alien: Isolation and Secret Hitler, it’s a social deduction horror game where one of your crewmates is an alien wearing a human face — and it was made by a single developer.
⚖️ No Meetings. No Pause. Just Suspicion.
Most social deduction games stop the action to let players argue. Someone finds a body, everyone gathers, a vote happens, and play resumes. It works brilliantly for party games — and it’s exactly what Mimic refuses to do.
Speaking to Insider Gaming for the showcase, solo developer Ryan Laley explained why: a horror game lives on tension that keeps building, and stopping for a round of accusations deflates it. You’d have to build all that dread back up again from scratch.
So in Mimic, suspicion is continuous. At any moment you can point at another player and accuse them. Accusations fill a meter on screen, and a relentless AI android roaming the ship goes after whoever has the most suspicion against them. There’s no table to sit around. The vote is the threat.
As the press release puts it: suspicion isn’t a party game mechanic here — it’s a survival mechanic.
Evil wears many faces — including your own
You’re stranded aboard the crumbling Icarus spacecraft. No weapons. One escape shuttle. And one of the people you’re about to save isn’t human.
At the inaugural 28 GAMES LATER Horror Showcase, solo developer Ryan Laley Games released a new trailer and a behind-the-scenes feature for Mimic, a sci-fi online social deduction game launching into Early Access on October 27 on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will follow in 2027, after Early Access.
Three Roles, One Shuttle
🧑🚀 The Crew
Most players. Complete objectives to repair the escape shuttle and get off the Icarus — without the mimic on board.
👽 The Mimic
Disguised as a crewmate. Can burst out of its human skin to hunt — and wins by killing everyone, or by escaping with them.
🕴️ The Agent
A corporate plant secretly working to make sure the mimic survives “for further study.”
🤖 The Android
An AI hunter roaming the halls, steered by player accusations — and by Twitch chat, if you let it.
🚀 The Final Decision Is Who Gets on the Shuttle
The mimic’s win conditions are what make this especially nasty. It can win by killing everyone — or simply by leaving the ship. The crew can only win if they escape without the mimic in their party.
That turns the climax of every match into a classic The Thing moment: deciding who you trust enough to bring with you. Laley says that second win condition grew out of community playtests, giving the mimic a reason to keep working alongside the crew rather than just hunting.
There’s a balance built in, too. The mimic is encouraged to slip in and out of its monstrous form — because the longer it stays revealed, the faster the android finds it.
More Ways to Play
Every player is vulnerable — there are no weapons, so survival comes down to teamwork, quick thinking, and knowing who not to trust. Proximity chat lets you coordinate… or lie. And dying doesn’t take you out of the match: you return as an Omen, an invisible ghost who can still interact with and sabotage the environment.
Private lobbies go further with a set of game modifiers that change objectives, hazards, enemy behaviour and the rules themselves — think one-hit kills, fire, or an invisible mimic. Laley says the system was designed with how people consume games today in mind: as much by watching as by playing. Giving hosts more options means more varied content for streams and videos.
That extends to Twitch integration. In private lobbies, viewers can influence the android’s hunt and nudge the suspicion meter — turning an audience into an extra, very chaotic player.
Three Years of Nights and Weekends
🛠️ A Solo Developer Taking on Online Multiplayer
Mimic is the work of one person. Laley has been building it for about three years as a part-time project, working evenings and weekends alongside his day job as a freelancer and consultant in games.
An online, role-based multiplayer horror game is a huge undertaking for a solo developer, and he’s candid that it’s a stretch. He’d never made a horror game before, and didn’t want to make the same kind of game twice. Above all, he wanted to avoid what he called “another haunted house with a flashlight.”
He also notes that much of the asymmetric multiplayer horror space has been built on licensed franchises like Friday the 13th and Halloween, and that players he met at Gamescom were excited to see a new IP in the genre.
“I really wanted to capture that social tension that you get from your peers around you whilst being isolated and vulnerable.”
— Ryan Laley, speaking to Insider Gaming
Watch the Developer Interview
Early Access and Beyond
📅 October 27, 2026 · Steam · Epic Games Store
Mimic launches into Early Access on October 27 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, with five-player public matchmaking and private lobbies of up to ten. Laley plans to grow it with new maps, player roles and progression, gameplay mechanics and narrative content, shaped by community feedback — with the Discord as the main place to follow along.
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are planned for 2027, after Early Access. No price has been announced yet.
Hi there! I’m Marie, also known as CtrlQueen. I’m passionate about keeping up with the latest in gaming news and sharing my insights. RPGs steal my heart with their rich narratives and immersive worlds, but I also love unwinding with fun, casual games. Whether you’re here for deep dives into game mechanics or just to chat about your favorite casual game, you’ve found the right place! Let’s game and explore together.
