why u should play Ib (and which version to play)

Ib (pronounced like Eeb) is a 2012 freeware indie horror adventure game made in RPG maker 2003, that recently got a paid ($13) remake on Steam to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It kickstarted the whole craze over indie horror rpgmaker games at the time and directly inspired some of the other classics, like witch’s house and mad father. It is about a young girl named Ib who goes with her parents to an art gallery one day, only to find suddenly that she’s all alone, and the artworks start coming to life and trying to kill her. While trying to find her way around, she finds a couple other people in the same situation as her, and together they try to find a way to escape the cursed gallery.

It’s a very simple premise, and the game is pretty short, but it has a great atmosphere to it and a lot of charm and heart. It’s a horror game, but it doesn’t rely too heavily on jumpscares and instead puts more of a focus on tension with the environment and music. There’s also a lot of puzzles, even moreso in the remake, and they’re all fun to solve. The characters are charming and memorable, and have a special place in my heart personally. Most notably, there are quite a few possible endings! Officially there are 7, two of which can only be gotten on a second playthrough, but one of the endings also has 4 different variations, one of those which Also can only be achieved in a second playthrough, so counting the variations as different endings, there are 10 endings in total. Definitely a game where you’d best use multiple saves!


Like I mentioned, it is a horror game, but if you’ve played a lot of horror its pretty mild. There are a few tense chase sequences but not that many, as much of the game is focused on exploration and puzzle solving. If you aren’t used to horror though then it’ll probably be pretty scary. It was the first horror game I played on my own and there were a few scenes that scared the crap out of me LOL… Not as much anymore but they are definitely unnerving. As far as content warnings go, there’s blood (red paint in the context of the game but it is supposed to look like blood), some really creepy enemy designs, and hanging imagery in a few areas (with dolls, and in one possible instance a mannequin head) but the pixel art makes it less detailed and graphic.


While the remake is very good and very well-made, I wouldn’t say it's the definitive version to play. That’s not to say that it’s bad or that the original free version is the definitive way to play either though, they just have some differences that I think make each version kind of its own thing rather than making the remake an all around improvement of the original. To be clear, the story and number of endings is all the same in both versions, but the gameplay of the remake is a bit of a slight shift from the original version.

While working on the remake, kouri (the gamedev) said that he was aiming to make the remake more approachable to inexperienced players, and it shows. Some puzzles were made easier, some were removed entirely and replaced with completely different puzzles with more straightforward solutions, and some areas now have hints where they didn’t before. Some maps were also reworked and rearranged to have a better flow to them and be easier to navigate. It feels a bit too hand-holdy to my taste, and in that specific regard I prefer the original version which feels slightly more punishing and adds more to the atmosphere in that way. I also prefer the character artwork of the original game personally, and I like the dark moody feeling of the old version’s item menu in comparison to the new one. (Comparison below)


These are honestly nitpicks though, since I lived and breathed the old version of the game im pretty attached to it even if the remake improves some aspects of the puzzles+maps haha. The puzzles in the remake are still enjoyable, and there is one new major feature that the remake has above the old game: the talk button. Once you get a party member, you can use the E button anywhere anytime to have a bit of dialogue with them. Which doesn’t sound like much on paper, but there’s a surprising amount of depth put into it! The dialogue is different not only for every different room you’re in, but for every possible situation. There can be different dialogue in the same room depending on which specific part of the room you’re in, and it can change based on gameplay progression or items you interact with. The talk feature can be used to get hints and give the player a nudge if they’re stuck (which leans into that hand-holdiness I mentioned earlier) but a lot of it is also just fluff that's nice to read. Because of the talk feature, the remake has a TON more dialogue, all optional, and it's a treat to read through.

In short, the old version of the game is slightly more challenging and a bit scarier with its atmosphere (it also has a bit more jumpscares than the remake) while the new version has higher resolution pixel art, reworked puzzles + areas, and much more dialogue. I think you could play either one and get a great experience. While the extra dialogue for characters is a huge plus in the remake, the characters carry the original version of the game just as well. Or you could play the free version first and then try to get other endings in the remake and enjoy seeing the differences between the two versions. The game is pretty short and sweet (3-4 hours max for one run, much shorter if you know what to do+where to go) so it’s perfect to play on some downtime :)