Games
We speak to Alexey Testov from Hidden Layer Games about Inmost, a menacing story-driven adventure game that channels Limbo, Inside and Another World.
An aura of darkness and despair lingers around the whole of Inmost. It’s a game where in one moment you might be cowering in fear in the corner of a dilapidated castle while being stalked by a grotesque shadow monster; in another, you’re delicately hobbling downstairs as an old man while a storm rages outside his windows – both are equally filled with unmistakable dread.
Just try turning your head away from it, though. The artwork is a detailed and gorgeous treat but it also hides secrets. See the spindly branches of trees that could just as easily be tendrils of darkness attempting to ensnare you. In the world of Inmost, everything looks like a threat. Yet, you’ll want to press on, hoping to gain a better understanding of this place and the people you’re guiding through it.
From its debut trailer, that unsettling atmosphere is what’s made the game so intriguing. A purposefully enigmatic indie adventure that has been described as the “dream project” of artist and game designer at Hidden Layer Games, Alexey Testov. A lover of similar mood-driven adventure games like Limbo, Another World and Flashback, they were the first points of inspiration on this project.
“I was making decisions based on what I would want to play myself,” he says. “I chose a few games which I had completed many times over and extremely impressed me, and started to think about how it would be to combine them all – how might that look?”
Inmost is the result of posing that question. It’s surrounded by such an inky blackness and a continuous sense of foreboding menace, that it’s no surprise when comparisons are easily made to the likes of Inside and Limbo. Alexey is also grateful for any other comparisons that have been made with the visual styles of Hollow Knight and Heart of Darkness, even though he wasn’t aware of them prior to the game’s development. But, Inmost goes beyond just another gloomy trudge through a doom-laden environment.
The story of Inmost weaves between multiple characters, each one offering different styles of play and different perspectives on an interconnected story. They all exist within this world that, according to Alexey, is only sustained by a creature who stokes and feeds off the pain of others. The ultimate quest, then, is to find a way to defeat the creature in order to break free from this infinite loop of suffering. However, as you might’ve guessed, no answers are spelt out quite so simply within the game.
“The player spends most of the game playing as the 'main hero', although you won't know who the main hero is, why he is here or even what his name is,” Alexey teases. “But, with time, the player will notice connections between the stories of the game's playable characters: a girl locked in a house, the Knight and the main hero. The player will need to figure out how exactly these three characters are connected with each other.”
The connection to the games that inspired Inmost is clear once again with that hands-off approach to storytelling. But that’s not all they share. Like Limbo, Inside and those uncompromising games that inspired it, there are many ways for you to fail in an instant in Inmost – even with just a tiny misstep.
A terrifying array of ghoulish monsters are absolutely one way, but also mishaps from exploring are just as easy to succumb to. With that, Inmost puts you on edge from your very first step so you’re always on alert and anticipating the next threat waiting around the corner – even if there isn’t actually anything lurking in the shadows.
“That feeling of darkness is definitely one of the main tones in the game and I wanted to give that sense to the player from the very beginning, in order to establish an overall tone of the game,” Alexey explains. “But, I think that it's also important to have a place for different emotions in the game, not only the dark but also brighter ones. So I hope that there are also some moments that will make the player smile!”
From what we’ve witnessed of the game so far, we’ll just have to see about how joyful it can be. Though, having said that, there is a charming and entirely accurate encounter with a cat in the early stages of Inmost. It’s a small puzzle that has you finding a way to open a door so the cat can get out, yet the stubborn thing just sits at the threshold and refuses to budge once you’ve unlocked it. Clearly, they’ve remained very true to the species.
However, it’s fair to say that the sense of fear and anxiety prevails – not least because of how much of the world seems out to do you harm. With all those possible dangers that can lead to a swift demise, though, it’s a tough balancing act to ensure that players don’t feel repeatedly stalled for progress by unfair tricks or repeat deaths.
“The player must be able to explore the world and the story, with the possibility to take a break and look for other ways to make their life simpler,” Alexey assures. “That’s why there are lots of shortcuts and hidden places in the game, as well as chances to avoid monsters or defeat them without the need to contest with them in speed or agility.”
The punishment for errors isn’t such a severe one either, as you quickly pop back into existence at the start of the room, puzzle or obstacle you just succumbed to. Inmost understands it’s important to be able to get back into the action as swiftly as possible and not lose too much progress for your mistake.
And just as each character brings a different perspective on the story, so do they change the way the game plays. There are more combat and action focused sequences where you’ll need to fight or flee from monsters, then there are those moments that encourage exploration and puzzle solving, and then finally those atmospheric story-led vignettes. Inmost wasn’t always going to feature such diversity, though.
“In the beginning, we had the idea to make a very simple platformer so that we could have some rest from our main game development work,” Alexey explains. “I wanted to make something like Jet Set Willy – abstract enemies, strange locations – something totally nonsensical. But very soon I started to ask questions. Why do enemies look like this, and not like this? What is this place? What is the hero doing there?”
From there it developed further, as Alexey and the team further expanded upon the mechanics, story and world. Even though a lot of the overarching story and themes may be shrouded in mystery, there is “one key thought” behind the narrative that the team hopes they can impart upon players. However, Alexey is offering no clues there:
“It's important not to tell anyone about it just yet – we want to give players the possibility to really feel it for themselves and allow them to naturally discover it on their own, taking it as their own thought. Everything I want is connected to trying to achieve just that.”
So, that’s where it seems sensible to leave it with Inmost too. Shining too much of a light on its secrets and intentions risks ruining the experience before the game even launches later this year – and, from what we’ve seen, we get the sense Inmost is hiding something dark and menacing just around the corner.
Inmost is out on Nintendo Switch and PC in 2019.
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