Shark Dentist combines two phobias into one ridiculous roguelike

It’s shark season, and nobody knows that better than Alice Games, the developer behind the upcoming marine dentistry simulator, Shark Dentist: an aptly named horror roguelike in which you play — you guessed it — a shark dentist.

Despite its rather amusing title (“Shark Dentist” absolutely sounds like the kind of show you’d find airing on Discovery Channel in the middle of July), the game’s trailer shows off some pretty serious scares. Shark Dentist puts players into the scrubs of the world’s unluckiest (or bravest) veterinary dentist, who apparently only works on deadly marine animals with sharp teeth. Players must gently identify the source of a barely sedated shark’s dental woes and carefully find a way to solve them. Failure means death. 

“Inspired by viral sensations like Buckshot Roulette, Shark Dentist blends dark humor, roguelike mechanics, and a deeply creepy aesthetic to deliver a horror experience like no other,” Alice Games said in a press release shared alongside the gory trailer.

There are quite a few variables players will need to keep track of to stay alive, from the shark’s heart rate and pain levels to its dose of anesthesia. A single slip-up will result in a swift and bloody death. There are a variety of tools at the player’s disposal, including a circular saw, which honestly seems like a recipe for instant death, but presumably has some sort of valid use. Utilizing the right tools and the right timing can mean the difference between a gross-but-successful tooth extraction and an unscheduled beheading, as the shark will immediately shake off the anesthesia and attack players the moment they make a mistake.

Oddly, the terrifying aquatic patient is hanging from the ceiling of a dingy basement. Why is the shark in a basement? Why is it hanging from the ceiling? Is the game’s protagonist practicing illegal shark dentistry? The trailer doesn’t give any away any answers, but players will presumably be able to uncover the truth when Shark Dentist launches for Windows PC. It’s currently available to wishlist on Steam, where its release date is listed as “coming soon.”