Dogfactory | Hounds Of The Meteor -v2024-12-29- By

I’m talking, of course, about , specifically the latest build: v2024-12-29 , released by the enigmatic creator known only as DogFactory .

January 6, 2025

I’ve spent the last week clawing through this update, and I need to talk about it. For the uninitiated, Hounds of the Meteor is a parser-driven, text-based horror-romance (yes, you read that right) set aboard a failing deep-space research vessel. You play as a disgraced signal analyst assigned to a dying star designated “The Meteor.” Your job? Decode the psychic howls emanating from its accretion disk. The twist? Those howls are answering back . Hounds of the Meteor -v2024-12-29- By DogFactory

🐕🐕🐕🐕 (4/5 Space Dogs) One dog deducted because the inventory system still eats your lighter fluid every time. Have you played the new build? Did you pet the Rust-Hound or run from it? Let me know in the comments—just don’t type the star’s true name. We’ve agreed not to do that anymore. Find more from DogFactory at [their itch.io page] (assuming it exists, or will exist, or has always existed).

If you’ve been anywhere near the indie interactive fiction or cult narrative game spaces lately, you’ve probably heard the howl. It’s low, resonant, and carries a strange metallic echo—like a hunting horn mixed with a dial-up modem. I’m talking, of course, about , specifically the

So boot it up. Turn down the lights. And when the console asks “Are you still there?” — don’t lie.

4 minutes

The game’s signature mechanic is the “Empathy Protocol”—a slider that lets you interpret the star’s signals as either , lamentations , or courtship calls . Your choice literally rewrites the ship’s logs, the crew’s dialogue, and even the layout of the corridors. What’s New in v2024-12-29? This isn’t a simple bug-fix patch. DogFactory has effectively released a director’s cut that changes the game’s emotional core. Here are the headline features:

DogFactory has slipped in a new meta-narrative layer. Occasionally, the game will pause and ask: “Are you still chasing, or have you been caught?” If you type “help,” the game responds with a short ASCII art of a dog sitting in front of a terminal. It’s unnerving, sweet, and deeply weird all at once. The Vibe: A Symphony of Static and Fur What makes Hounds of the Meteor stick with you is its tone. Imagine Sunless Sea had a baby with Northern Exposure , and that baby was raised by House of Leaves and a very lonely golden retriever. You play as a disgraced signal analyst assigned