Prepare to examine what it means to be “human” as prolific indie horror publisher DreadXP and developer LUAL Games have announced the updated release date for [I] doesn’t exist — a modern text adventure exploring themes of control, isolation, and mental health.
Your salvation is just beyond that door. It’s everything you could ever want. All you need to do is: Get. Though. That. Door.
Inspired by beloved titles such as The Beginner’s Guide, Stories Untold, Buddy Simulator, and Zork, [I] doesn’t exist is a love letter to the origins of narrative-focused gaming and levels up the text adventure genre through the use of conversational text recognition, beautiful, surreal pixel art, and unconventional, intrapersonal themes.
In the game, players awake in an unfamiliar forest populated with illogical scenery and oddities like friendly, talking mushrooms. As they command their in-game avatar and contemplate the solution to puzzles (and the meaning of their own existence) to escape the seemingly innocuous forest, the façade begins to show its cracks to reveal something…darker.
Watch the (original) release date trailer for [I] doesn’t exist
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[I] doesn’t exist utilizes a combination of 2D and 3D perspective through optical illusion, giving players a trippy, dreamlike experience. The game’s trance-like visuals and text-based narrative design, supported by modern “Natural Language Processing” technology — which allows players to creatively answer in-game prompts without sticking to a set of specific terms, makes for an eerily intuitive gameplay experience that’s accessible to newbies and text-adventure veterans alike.
[I] doesn’t exist releases on Steam and itch.io for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux on October 5, 2023. Dreamers can download the demo now and wishlist the full game here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1943420/I_doesnt_exist__a_modern_text_adventure.
Publisher & Developer Note: Publisher DreadXP and developer LUAL value the authenticity of human-made narratives, and none of the in-game text in [I] doesn’t exist is AI-generated. The Natural Language Processing technology utilized in the game is not affiliated with ChatGPT or other similar AI platforms and utilizes only the player’s input to access pre-written responses by the game’s super-cool writers.
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