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Smiley dog announced it will release Don’t Stop Smiling, a new horror game about exploring an abandoned, haunted school that also tracks if the player is smiling, in Q2 2026. The game will appear on PCs and require someone to play on a device with a camera. As such, a Steam Deck wouldn’t be compatible. [Thanks, Famitsu!]
Don’t Stop Smiling will be a short horror game, as the product page on Steam suggests it will last for an hour at most. Your character will go through a haunted school, needing to explore and investigate in order to survive and escape. However, as you do, you’ll encounter various entities and situations. The game will use a camera to ensure the person playing has a smile showing. If someone stops smiling, due to shock or perhaps screaming, then their character will die and the run will end.
A first trailer is available. It shows what the exploration element is like and also highlights how an indicator in the upper left corner will monitor your current facial expression based on camera input. It also offers an example of what happens if the player’s expression falters. It seems the on-screen indicator will also be of our avatar, so we’ll see our character crying and hear their sobs as we play.
Don’t Stop Smiling will come to PCs in Q2 2026 worldwide, and it will be playable in 10 other languages in addition to English and Japanese.
