Hello everyone!
Today is a massive day for the entire team at Garage51. Coinciding with our participation in The MIX Summer Showcase and Midsummer Night's Scream (by the Horror Games Awards), we can finally share our second developer diary (Devlog #2) with you. This one focuses entirely on the mechanic that will make you lose your mind: The Mimic.
In this video, our designer Dani Sintas takes you deep inside the guts of CORDURA to explain how psychological horror directly intertwines with your own voice.
You can watch the full Devlog trailer right here:
Whether you missed the live streams or just want to break down everything we’ve shown, here is a detailed recap of what we reveal in this Devlog:
🎙️ What is the Mimic, exactly?
Forget about generic horror game enemies—even those that might record a bit of your conversation just to throw out random words later. The Mimic is not a monster that simply parrots the last sentence you said over proximity voice chat. It is so much more than that.
It listens and processes context: CORDURA’s system records your conversations in real-time, analyzes the context of what you are saying, and strategically decides how to weaponize your own voice against your squad. It stores these recordings and deploys them to completely disorient your team.
Sowing Paranoia and Friendly Fire: As the night deepens, your mind will start playing tricks on you. You will begin to hear voices that sound exactly like your teammates—but aren't. You will see things that aren’t really there. The game uses real-time hallucinations to blur the lines of reality, triggering intense confusion within the squad. You won’t know if you're looking at your actual friend or the night itself. This organically pushes teams into moments of pure panic and, inevitably, friendly fire. In CORDURA, your weapon isn't meant for the monsters...
The Ultimate Assimilation: If one of these hallucinations catches you, the night won't let you go. The game will take your voice and your lifeless body, allowing the Mimic to impersonate you and hunt down the rest of your squad using your exact identity.
🛠️ The Great Technical Challenge: Terror from the Very First Run
One of our biggest challenges was making the Mimic functional right from the start. We didn't want a system that required three hours of pre-recording before it could start replicating you.
Instead, we designed a technology capable of creating completely unpredictable situations and organic reactions from your very first run (Run 1), ensuring that no two experiences in our Victorian labyrinths are ever the same.
👀 This is Just a Sneak Peek
The Mimic is far more complex than the few phrases we’ve shown you today; it’s a living system whose sole purpose is to drive you mad until you end up shooting your best friend.
Part of this footage is actually a teaser for our upcoming trailer, where you’ll see the full gameplay in action. It will officially premiere at the upcoming Future Games Show on June 6th, and we’ll be sharing more details very soon!
CORDURA is the evolution of the "friendslop" formula, bringing premium quality and a Mimic system that delivers terror and fun in equal measure.
If you want to share your theories, ask questions, or just chat with us, don’t hesitate to join our Discord:
— The Garage51 Team