Scarecrow: 90s Crime Story
By day the town accepts you. By night it fears you. Scarecrow: 90s Crime Story casts you as Robert, a fox who keeps a low profile until dusk, when he becomes the most efficient killer in Severodvishchensk. This is a crime drama wrapped in snow, populated by humans and anthropomorphic animals, where every alleyway and apartment might hide a memory you thought you had buried.
The game promises a clear two-act rhythm. Walk quiet streets, learn names and small tragedies, then answer a sunset knock and execute a contract with brutal, fast top-down action. Choices you make in the light affect who trusts you and how the night unfolds, and those choices ultimately steer you toward one of several endings.
A Town That Keeps Its Secrets
Severodvishchensk feels lived in. It is a poor, winterbound place where people do not speak loudly and owe each other favors. The cast ranges from a cat hawking bootleg VHS tapes to a hard-luck best friend and a potential love interest who lingers in your head. Everyone has a name and a story, which matters because relationships here are as valuable as ammunition.
Exploration appears to be more than window dressing. The daylight sections are story-driven and designed to reveal both the town's ecosystem and threads that tie back to your own past. Those small interactions look like they will build tension, open quest options, and change how NPCs treat Robert when night falls.
Live by Day
Daytime in Scarecrow is about walking the snow-covered corners of a '90s inspired town. Visit the bar, poke around abandoned buildings, drop by gangster apartments, and gather context. The developers promise that connections matter, so getting to know locals can pay off in unexpected ways during contracts or in how the narrative unfolds.
This quieter half of the loop emphasizes atmosphere and character work. It is where the slow reveal happens, and where you decide which threads from your past you want to follow before darkness forces the next gunfight.
Kill by Night
When the sun goes down every contract arrives with urgency. The night segments are fast, brutal top-down shooter encounters where you will breach mansions and labs, improvise, and survive by reflex and preparation. There are 20 weapons to find and use, letting you tailor your combat style and make encounters land exactly how you want them to.
The combat is pitched as high-stakes and visceral. Doors get kicked in, enemies respond violently, and mistakes are costly. The contrast between the quiet day and adrenaline-fueled night aims to create a compelling rhythm that keeps tension high.
Choices, Style, and Sound
Choices matter in Scarecrow. The game bills itself as a crime drama where personal decisions influence the ending, and the daytime relationships feed into that branching structure. The setting is explicitly nostalgic, drawing on a post-Soviet winter atmosphere crafted by developers who grew up in that world, which should give the visuals and locales a particular authenticity.
Audio gets special mention too. The soundtrack features work from Acryl Madness, Xis350, isekaifromsaratov, and Myasorubin, suggesting a varied, moody score to underline both the town's melancholy and the nights' ferocity.
Why You Should Care
If you like narrative-driven adventures with a strong day-night split and punchy, top-down combat, Scarecrow: 90s Crime Story looks worth watching. Its mix of anthropomorphic noir, tough moral choices, and an emphasis on both people and bullets gives it a distinctive tone that could stand out among indie crime games.
➡️ Check out Scarecrow: 90s Crime Story now on Steam
