Ib

A rpg indie horror game developed in 2012 by a Japanese artist Kuori . Not much is known about the game as the Japanese artist is pretty mysterious. The game took flight in 2014 when its download numbers soared. This was also made in the period whereby indie horror games were becoming more and more popular. It was one of the games that sparked the gaming community’s Interest in games of this genre. Since then, it has garnered a huge fan base and allowed for the development of fan art and modifications that added on to the endings, increasing the number of endings even more.

Rhizome structure:

The affinity you have with the characters in the game affects how you would interact with them eventually also the ending that you have. the affinity changes depending on your choices in the dialogues of the game also with what you do in the game(e.g. discovering different areas in the game helps you progress the game in different directions. you may also end the game without discovering some of the in game elements. This allows for a flexible ending. Moreover the main character’s (Ib) personality also changes in the game according to your choices thus the narratives also differ in the game. The game is really complex and has many possible storylines thus this makes for an interesting gameplay experience.(people like to see their choices actually making a difference)

The “Fear” factor:

Being a horror game, visual prompts are used widely throughout the game to make people afraid and single colours are commonly used in each zone. The sound effects, though old school, offer an even more scary experience. Each painting in the game has a meaning or function that is related to the story itself or the progression of the story.There is a wikia page explaining the meanings of each painting.

Below is the link to the presentation:

Ib presentation

The game is free-to-play and the English version can be found at this link.