You can play Baldur's Gate 3 & The Sims Love Child Demo sooner than you think

When I first wrote about My scary lair in the fall, the full release of the game was scheduled for Q3 2026. That was reasonable. Comfortable, even, in the middle of other gaming priorities. The 2025 release calendar has been properly stacked, and a lot can happen in a year. For example, I could very responsibly add a few hundred extra hours Baldur's Gate 3 and The Sims in preparation…for My scary lairdismissal, of course.

My scary lair he wears his inspirations proudly. It's a cozy decorating game with romantic ambitions, a focus on aesthetics, and an unmistakable penchant for morally questionable fantasy men. In short, he is a very loved child Baldur's Gate 3 and The Simsand I assumed I had plenty of time before it required my full, undivided attention. Unfortunately for my free time it shows My scary lair he won't wait until Q3 2026 to make a problem for himself. That's why I have to do it for you too.

After 392 hours in Baldur's Gate 3, I still regret recruiting this party member

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My Creepy Lair Is Like The Sims Meets Baldur's Gate 3 – Demo Released January 2026

On December 11th, a developer from Bad Vices Games announced via Discord that they were about to release a public demo of the game Sims– a BG3-like a game My scary lair in January. The team is currently finalizing the opening scenes and incorporating comedic elements to contrast the game's dark premise.

As an unwelcome reminder: January 2026 is less than two weeks away.

Hear me out: there's a unique comfort in knowing that the game you're excited about is far away. You can admire it from afar. Steam game wishlist. Stay on top of developer updates without mysteriously calling for work. 3rd quarter 2026 dal My scary lair that kind of buffer, far enough away to feel aspirational rather than urgent, but the demo crashes. Suddenly, it's not something to get excited about “finally”. It's something you'll soon be able to touch, try, and become dangerously attached to. I used a lot of second person in this paragraph to deflect the fact that I might have been the one getting dangerously attached.

What is my scary lair?

Official art of My Eerie Lair Mary and Victor

My scary lair is a dark cozy game of furniture and toxic romance that understands exactly how weird that line sounds and yet commits to it. My scary lair is not just”The Sims“Build mode but creepy” or “Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion romance, but without the shame.” It's a deliberately focused experience built on atmosphere, intimacy and the peculiar satisfaction of creating something darkly beautiful, one room at a time.

The best of The SimsBuild mode: A grid-free decorating game set in a vampire sprawling castle, with no timers, no penalties, and no pressure to manage resources.
The Premise is Unhinged: A vampire named Victor kidnaps his beloved Mary and tries to win her heart by turning his haunted castle into her dream home. It's the perfect figment of TikTok's viral imagination. In addition, it is very similar to BBEG, which we are supposed to help Baldur's Gate 3Astarion – Pale skin, slicked back hair, pirate shirt and all that jazz.
Decorate to your (undead) heart's content: Players furnish rooms by unlocking thousands of objects, freely manipulating color, scale, rotation, and lighting to create moods ranging from dark and seductive to dreamy and melancholy.
Two ways to play: A story mode that slowly reveals the twisted relationship between Victor and Mary as you help fill the castle. Meanwhile, Endless Mode removes the narrative pressure entirely, allowing you to enjoy a game where you can decorate spaces without wondering if the vampire is getting impatient.
For mature audiences: While the title is a cozy game at heart, it doesn't shy away from its tone either. The premise itself is pretty eyebrow-raising. The developers flag general adult content, including violence, gore, and suggestive themes, emphasizing that this is no pastel fantasy without consequences.

A game like my scary lair needs a demo

A game demo signals trust. The developers are said to believe the game's core fantasy is strong enough to stand on its own, without qualifications or caveats. For a genre related title like My scary lair— cozy, narrative, and a little offbeat — it matters.

It also reshapes expectations. Reading about the game and playing it will have fundamentally different experiences. The demo allows players to feel the pace, hear the music and understand how the game can react. There's a difference between liking an idea and trusting its execution, especially when it has DNA from games like BG3 and The Simswhich have active and opinionated fandoms.

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Yes, TikTok Romance Is The Sims-Like My Eerie Lair Hook (And That's The Point)

Let Baldur's Gate 3 romance lovers relive their guilty pleasures

My Predator Victor & Prey Mary Mysterious Lair

Romance has become one of the most talked about elements of modern RPGs, but it's rarely the main event. Even in Baldur's Gate 3a game known for its steamy sex scenes, romance exists alongside combat, exploration and massive branching stories. Romance is optional BG3. IN My scary lairalthough spices don't have to fight for oxygen.

There is something almost presumptuous about centering a decorative play around emotional intimacy, especially when that intimacy involves a questionable preface. But that focus is exactly why it works. By narrowing its scope, My scary lair he can afford to be judicious. Relationships develop at a pace that feels more deliberate than random. And at worst, it will allow fans of Astarion's romance to relive the glory days.

Suddenly, 2026 is very far away

The demo promise has a way of making the game's release window abstract. Q3 2026 used to sound close enough, but now seems far away. Not because the wait is unbearable, but because My scary lair has already begun to establish itself as an experience in the present tense with its demo. And if the demo lives up to the hype? Q3 will be a thousand light years away from me.

That's the danger of letting players in too early. Once you enter a space, arrange it to your liking, and feel the pull of a story that knows exactly which emotional buttons to push, it will be harder to keep your patience. I thought I had time to prepare My scary lair. Turns out the game had other plans. And if they give Bad Vices Games, who should I take?