The Inner Friend

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Summary

Led by a mysterious Shadow, face fears and nightmares inhabiting its materialized subconscious universe. Dive into a unique and eerie world to relive the Shadow’s childhood memories and overcome them to restore what was once a safe haven. You’ll journey ever deeper through the subconscious to unravel a rich but wordless story and encounter gruesome beings that you must evade. Ultimately, however, you will have to face them.

The Inner Friend features a rich visual environment, supported by an immersive soundscape and a cinematic soundtrack enhancing immersion and emotional moments. Movement, imagery, and music are the main ways for the player to interact with the Shadow, their guide throughout the descent. Dark and scary, mysterious at times, the world of The Inner Friend is a surrealist representation of memories and fears.

Features

Journey through a surreal world inspired by childhood nightmares and psychology
Overcome obstacles, solve puzzles and defeat nightmarish foes
Earn the Shadow’s trust to unlock new challenges and pieces of the story
Immerse yourself in a visually-driven narrative with a minimalist interface
Rebuild the Shadow’s safe haven to save him from his darkest fears


The Inner Friend Activation Instructions

The Inner Friend Reviews & Ratings

70
Review by Eurogamer Italy
May 6, 2020

The Inner Friend is eerie and visually stunning. Vibe, soundtrack and 3D scenarios are its strongest qualities. PLAYMIND should focus to improve narrative and gameplay, to not fall behind games of the same genre.

80
Review by GameCritics
May 5, 2020

I zipped through The Inner Friend in under two hours, but I’d imagine it could be completed even more quickly — I wasn’t good at the chase scenes, and kept getting kicked back to checkpoints. However, even with a short running time, this beautiful story about loss, trauma, and finding the strength to rebuild oneself after falling to pieces is a beautiful experience. It’s stunning, in a broken, decayed way, and I’d recommend it to nearly anyone who’s willing to take a chance on a game built around storytelling without words.

60
Review by SuperkenGaming [user]
April 22, 2020

The inner friendNot quite sure what I just playedThe inner friend is a 1 and a half hour long 3d aventure game with very light puzzleThe inner friendNot quite sure what I just playedThe inner friend is a 1 and a half hour long 3d aventure game with very light puzzle elements where you play as a boy figure… and this game is one of those look for the deeper meaning games… it’s a lot of falling and walking around through what seem to be memories of a child, dealing with fears such as an awful teacher or getting your haircut… memories that have created monsters in your head… and all you have is yourself.. your inner friend to escape and make everything okay…this is a very interesting game to say the least and it can be terrifying at times…while I don’t feel the inner friend is a must play game.. I definitely don’t regret playing through it… aside from the story that is kinda just background noise to this sometimes stealthy little adventure game, I appreciate the little the inner friend accomplishes in its hour and a half… I would’ve liked a more fleshed out adventure here.. and that is ultimately my biggest gripe with this game.. it doesn’t feel fleshed out.. pun intended.I loved the horror sections, I loved the tiny ico sections.. but these moments were just flashes in the pan of the other wise pretty mediocre experiencethe inner friend is an odd game… an odd game I wish there was more too than what we got…Not necessarily longer.. just a bit more substance…I give the inner frienda 6.0/10

71
Review by COGconnected
September 17, 2018

In short, The Inner Friend is enjoyable, if not much too short title that is open to interpretation in its story. This game is worth a play if you can scrounge up the cash. The experience alone is worth picking it up. And yet, PLAYMIND could have explored so much with this idea. Once again the game is much too short, leaving that potential untapped. Adding some more clues to the protagonist’s real identity and what they did prior would help a lot when players start to examine the game. Regardless, pick it up if you feel like spending a little bit of cash on a nice, spooky, surreal game. Your inner friend will thank you.

61
Review by New Game Network
September 7, 2018

The Inner Friend was in much need of adding risk to its puzzles and encounters, if it hoped to create the eerie, unsettling atmosphere of which its subject matter and visual design are more than capable.

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Game Information
Release Date September 6, 2018
Publisher PLAYMIND
Content Rated T (Teen)
Game Modes Single player
Player Perspectives First person
Genres Puzzle, Adventure, Indie
Themes Action, Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One