Entertainment · Gaming · 1 hr ago
Penguin Colony reworks Lovecraft’s Antarctic horror as a critique of racism
Penguin Colony is a surreal horror game set in Antarctica and developed by Origame Digital.
Players control penguins exploring the frozen landscape, swimming, hopping and switching between different birds.
The story reworks H.P. Lovecraft’s 1936 novella At the Mountains of Madness, which follows an expedition that encounters cosmic horrors.
In the game’s version, Nazi explorers seek a mysterious power they believe could be an Aryan god, while another group’s motives remain unclear.
A narrator recounts an earlier scientist’s expedition, and the game also gathers words as collectibles.
The game confronts Lovecraft’s racism and Nazi brutality rather than simply repeating the original horror imagery.
Its reviews describe an unsettling experience that builds toward a conclusion challenging those beliefs and encouraging players to see the world differently.
Reviewers also noted occasional audio and control glitches, while the game’s ending reveals a map of discoveries and things left unexplored.
Penguin Colony is a game by Origame Digital that reworks H.P. Lovecraft’s 1936 novella At the Mountains of Madness.
The game casts players as penguins exploring Antarctica as a Nazi expedition pursues an entity it believes is an Aryan God.
Polygon describes the game as a protest against racism and violence, while the Guardian calls it a takedown of Lovecraft’s racism and Nazi barbarism.
The game mixes exploration and platforming with a narrator, collectibles made of words and surreal imagery.
The Guardian reports some audio glitches and control bugs, but says they do not greatly detract from the experience.
- Who
- Origame Digital developed Penguin Colony.
- What
- The game retells Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness through penguins exploring Antarctica and encountering a Nazi expedition and cosmic horrors.
- When
- It is set around 1939. Reviews were published on October 15 and 16, 2026.
- Where
- Antarctica, including the South Pole region.
- Why
- The game uses Lovecraftian horror to confront racism and Nazi barbarism.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
H.P. Lovecraft published the novella At the Mountains of Madness, which the game reworks.
Penguin Colony’s story takes place in Antarctica as a Nazi expedition pursues an entity.
Polygon published its review of Penguin Colony.
The Guardian published its review of Penguin Colony.
- Developer
- Origame Digital
- Source novella
- At the Mountains of Madness, published in 1936
- Setting
- Antarctica, circa 1939
- Nazi expedition’s belief
- It has found an Aryan God
- Guardian review date
- October 16, 2026
3 sources
What people are saying
Penguin Colony wants you to writhe.