Somehow seems more potent, playing this in 2025: the world's aflame, yet it seems like we can do very little things to change it, so we just continue to monotonously live each and every day of our lives, try to cherish our loved ones while suffocating in dread... Can't help but feel like "something is in the air" — hence too hot and dense to suck in, yet to escape into another world by oneself seems just as improbable... there is always more than just one eye watching, from above or below. I love the writing style, subtle yet effective: the changing inscriptions on tombstones, the building lights that are on and off, the ominous eye(s) staring out from the apartment building door... And our lovely couple. It's hard not to empathize with these characters. The music and graphics too enhance this melancholic feeling. Unsettling yet not terrifying, being used to tragedy yet still unbearable to stare them right into the eye — or eyes. Truly a wonderful game!
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings
$6.98
- Release Date:
- Sep 15, 2022
- Developer:
- Quinn K., Conor Walsh
- Publisher:
- Poison The Inkwell
- Platforms:
- Windows
Game Tags
About This Game
THERE SWINGS A SKULL
The town of Pareildas stands in the center of a vast desert. Its citizens live their lives quietly. Or, at least, they once did.
In recent days the speaker-gallows sprang, weedlike, in the heart of the town - and since its inception the denizens of Pareildas have been sacrificed, one by one. The electric words that spew from the gallows claim this is to staunch the blistering hatred of the vengeful sun... but the heat has only grown more and more unbearable.
OUR PROTAGONISTS

Anatoli works for the town train station. He dreams of leaving Pareildas, so that he might peacefully live out the rest of his life with his husband. His dreams share much in common with the blackened husks of the town's denizens that line the streets.
Pyotr is an independent artist. He hopes, deeply, that he might do something to stop the hellfire slowly consuming Pareildas. But the price of stopping the natural order is immensely steep - and, of course, there's no guarantee this is a natural occurrence at all...
ABOUT THE GAME
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings is a narrative-horror game built in RPG Maker 2003 by Conor Walsh and Quinn K., with music by Leaf Let. Though the game initially released as a jam game it was so well-received - and sat so well with our team - that we decided to build it out into a full game.
Conor Walsh is a professional narrative designer who has written on such titles as The Outer Worlds, A Place, Forbidden, The DreadX Collection 2, and many others.
Quinn K. brought indie darling OFF to the English-speaking world and recently released the stylish and moody AN OUTCRY.
We hope you enjoy our work.
FEATURES
- A deep central narrative
- Gorgeous pixel and fullscreen graphics
- A unique, haunting soundtrack
- Two separate routes and a third that we dare not mention
- Multiple endings
- A hateful sun
- The endless ocean
- Death
Screenshots
User Reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
2 user reviews
100%
Positive
User #027242
english
2 hrs at review
System Requirements
Minimum
Minimum:
- OS *: Microsoft® Windows® XP/Vista/7/8
- Processor: Intel® Pentium®4 1.5GHz
- Memory: 256 MB RAM
- Graphics: 1024x768 or better video resolution in High Color mode
- Sound Card: DirectSound-compatible sound card
FAQ
How much does There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings cost?
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings costs $6.98.
What are the system requirements for There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings?
Minimum: Minimum: OS *: Microsoft® Windows® XP/Vista/7/8 Processor: Intel® Pentium®4 1.5GHz Memory: 256 MB RAM Graphics: 1024x768 or better video resolution in High Color mode Sound Card: DirectSound-compatible sound card
What platforms is There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings available on?
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings is available on Windows PC.
Is There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings worth buying?
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings has 100% positive reviews from 2 players.
When was There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings released?
There Swings a Skull: Grim Tidings was released on Sep 15, 2022.
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