Escape room meet unreal terrors: The story of Ib

A classic RPG game with a cult-like status among the indie gamer community, Ib is a mystery and thrilling hide-and-seek game where you are trapped in an inverted version of your reality, and you have to find the way out, if only it’s easy.

A young girl’s visit to an art gallery with her parents takes a dark turn as she’s thrown into a sinister reality.

Introduction

Is solving puzzles to you the equivalent of two cups of coffee to get you through overtime?

Does an art gallery seem like a decent place to hangout with your friends? Or does it gives you butterflies in your stomach?

Then Ib is for you.  

Ib is a name, as odd as it is, and the story of Ib and the universe she was in, couldn’t be more entertaining to fans of horror, macabre, and Kafka. 

It is a freeware one-player RPG game made in 2012 by kouri, an artist based in Japan. It also has a remake on Steam if you want to support the artist.

The Story

The somber strings of guitar played as soon as the young girl and her parents entered the lobby of an art gallery.

Their moods were a mystery as their faces were all as fuzzy as distorted ripples.

“Ib, be a good girl, alright?” said the mother to her, to which she nodded. 

Her parents greeted the receptionist. Then her mother allowed her to explore the art gallery by herself.

Ib looked around. The paintings, composed of different colors, strokes, and emotions, occupied the spaces flawlessly.

Ib was nine years old at the time. She knew these paintings she saw, they were telling a story. She could hear all the whispers, and their frequencies crashed. To some degree, it was like a ringing that encroached her eardrums. Then it dissipated into something much softer, yet so sinister.

Chatters from the visitors filled the air. They discussed the meaning of Guertena’s works, whose special exhibition 

But the liveliness of the gallery will soon change.

Ib started seeing things, yet no one was around her. She’s left with all these lifeless paintings and sculptures that now began to show their true colors. Everyone is gone.

And out of nowhere, a series of unsolicited incidents barraged her; the splattered blood on the window, the knock on the entrance door, and the appearance of bloody writings on the walls and floors.

These encounters would lead her to the other dimension, known as ‘The Cursed Gallery’.

The gameplay 

The mechanics are pretty simple.

As Ib, you will be able to explore the gallery with the arrow keys, and interact with objects using the Enter button. 

Ib has an inventory of the items you collected. You can press X to access it. Never underestimate these items, because they could be resourceful later. 

However, the puzzle can take some time to solve. As you get a better grasp of the room layout, you can buy yourself more time, and avoid corners that will trigger the enemies to appear and chase you.

Sometimes you could get stuck in a certain route, and that may poke at your patience a bit. This is where guides come in handy, like this one. 

Depending on the choice you make, you can get different outcomes for Ib. Ib will meet other characters too, and it’s in your hands to decide whether they’re going to be a friend or a foe. 

Highlights

There’s something special about the fuzzy sprites that greet you when you begin the game. It gives that ‘random but gold discovery in the attic’ feel. 

The music that follows each scene managed to solidify the already eerie atmosphere. 

The sense of dread never leaves you as you’re always in a constant flip and run situation with the gallery residents.

Verdict

The graphics may leave you feeling a lot to be desired, and the story and gameplay may seem too simple for game veterans, but it’s worth trying if you are looking for something different, especially if you love RPG games with narratives and in-games choices with chilling atmospheres.