Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance

Rate it

A spoiled girl falls into hell, and a sarcastic demon offers to help.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (90% of 1,059 reviews); 3.93 of 5 stars on the PlayStation Store (174 ratings)
Length: about 6 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard or controller; Steam lists full controller support.
Made by: Creepy Brothers
Released: 2023

On PlayStation: one of the PlayStation horror games.

No. 23 of the witch horror games · No. 19 of the cave horror games · No. 21 of the fairy tale horror games

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop

What frightens A spoiled girl steps on a loaf of bread to keep her shoes clean and falls into hell, where creatures that kill on sight want to swallow her whole, torment her with endless nightmares or turn her into a statue.
Content: blood, violence, tobacco use.

Ingrid steps on a loaf of bread to keep her shoes clean and tumbles straight down to hell. In this hand-drawn puzzle adventure you guide her past creatures that want to eat her, trap her in nightmares or turn her into a statue, hiding from those that kill on sight, with a sarcastic demon as her only ally, and your choices decide how her story ends.

About Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance

Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance is the third game in the Creepy Tale series by Creepy Brothers. It came out on PC, Mac and Linux in March 2023, and on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch in August 2023, where Sometimes You publishes it as Creepy Tale: Ingrid Penance. Each Creepy Tale is its own story, so this one stands alone.

Ingrid is a capricious, spoiled girl. To avoid dirtying her shoes she steps on a loaf of bread, and for that she tumbles all the way down to hell. The underworld is full of creatures with plans for her: some want to swallow her whole, some want to keep her in never-ending nightmares, and one wants to turn her into a pretty statue to impress the neighbours. Just when she seems lost she meets Molek, a sarcastic little demon who has been watching her with interest, and she has little choice but to trust him.

The game is a side-view adventure drawn in a sketchy, muted style and played with keyboard or controller rather than by pointing and clicking. The story moves in short chapters, each a puzzle area of its own, with only a few items in your pockets at a time. Many of the creatures kill on sight, so a good part of the play is sneaking past them, hiding or running, and you will die now and then; autosaves are frequent, so little is lost. The puzzles vary: rune locks, a stretch where you switch between characters, one built on music, and plenty of meddling with the creatures' daily chores by taking their tools or moving their things.

The story is fully voiced in English and Russian and borrows from Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and other authors. Ingrid's palms keep a tally of her sins and good deeds, and what you do along the way shapes her fate; the store says there are several endings.

Its horror is the grim fairy-tale kind: witches over a cauldron, a child hidden in a coffin, a bloated man in a graveyard under the moon, blood on the walls of a portrait room. There are sudden shrieks and chases rather than gore. It suits players who enjoy puzzle adventures with a dark, darkly funny storybook tone, and it takes around six hours to finish once.

How to play Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance

Walk Ingrid left and right through each scene of hell and look for things you can use.
Pick up items and use them on people, objects and mechanisms; a few things do not light up as usable, so try them anyway.
Keep out of sight of the creatures that kill on sight: hide, wait for your moment or run.
Solve the puzzles that block the way: locks, codes, music and contraptions.
Talk to Molek and the creatures you meet, and choose carefully; your actions shape Ingrid's fate.
Play again and choose differently to see the other endings.

Screenshots

Ingrid hangs in the air in a foggy moonlit graveyard beside a huge bald man with jars of glowing things, crying that he has almost caught it

Two witches and a small pink imp around a skull-covered cauldron in a dark hut lined with bottles

A horned, grinning imp beside an open red-lined coffin in a candlelit crypt, a child's pale face peeking out

Two floors of a dark house: Ingrid in a kitchen with a stove above, a skull-faced nurse reading by candlelight below

Ingrid in a dim room of creepy portraits, one of a bloodied nurse, beside an old chair and an oil lamp

A rune-dial puzzle on a dark wooden panel, with one glowing orange slot above

Ingrid's two open palms, a red 45 on one and a yellow 0 on the other: her tally of sins and good deeds

Tips

Look at Ingrid's palms now and then: they keep the tally of her sins and good deeds, which shapes her ending.
Some objects you can use are not highlighted, as the game warns early on; when stuck, try the action button on anything that looks useful.
Dying is part of it and autosaves are frequent, so watch how a creature moves before you try to slip past it.
Each chapter is its own area, so the answer to a puzzle is almost always close by; check your few items again before you wander.

Questions

Do I need to play the earlier Creepy Tale games first?

No. Ingrid's story is a new one with a new heroine, so you can start here.

How long is Creepy Tale 3: Ingrid Penance?

About six hours for the main story, by HowLongToBeat's figure as shown on IsThereAnyDeal; seeing more endings takes longer.

Does Creepy Tale 3 have multiple endings?

Yes. The store says Ingrid's fate depends on your choices and actions over the whole game, and there are multiple endings.

Is it on consoles?

Yes, on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch since August 2023, sold there as Creepy Tale: Ingrid Penance and rated Teen by the ESRB for blood, tobacco use and violence.

Is it voiced?

Yes. The story is fully voiced in English and Russian; text is also available in German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.