Find Yourself

Rate it

Walk the empty cars of a night subway, and face the fears of a childhood.

Platforms: PC
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (84% of 1,333 reviews)
Length: about 60 minutes (the maker's average)
Players: 1
Made by: EMIKA_GAMES
Released: 2021

What frightens A man scarred by his mother's abuse as a child, who can slip out of his body into the astral, has to go down into the subway, and in its dark, empty cars the fears he spent years learning to cope with come back; you walk carriage to carriage by flashlight while scenes from his childhood replace the train around you.
Content: flashing lights, violence, alcohol or drug use, child abuse (story).

Find Yourself is a short first-person psychological horror game by EMIKA_GAMES. You walk through dark subway cars as a man with post-traumatic stress from his childhood, and his memories and phobias take over the train around him. The maker puts an average play at about an hour.

About Find Yourself

Find Yourself is a first-person psychological horror game from EMIKA_GAMES, released on Steam for Windows in February 2021. The maker calls it a walking simulator, and puts the average time to finish at about 60 minutes. EMIKA_GAMES later made Father's Day, a prequel and spin-off set in the same story.

The main character suffers from post-traumatic stress after something that happened to him as a child. Since then he has been able to leave his body and move into the astral, a world on the other side. His mother's abuse left him with phobias he learned to cope with, but circumstances force him down into the subway, where he has to face them again.

You explore the subway's cars slowly, mostly by the light of a flashlight. The cars are empty, littered and half lit; as you go, the place changes into scenes from his childhood: a child's bedroom, a house, a cellar, an old carousel at night. You can listen in on what happens on the other side of reality, and hidden secrets are tucked away for those who look carefully. The soundtrack is meant to carry the madness the character feels.

As a walking simulator it is about exploring rather than fighting: the fear is in the dark, the empty carriages, what might be standing at the end of one, and the story of a childhood gone wrong. It suits players who like short, story-led horror at a walking pace. If you have played Father's Day, this is the game it leads into.

How to play Find Yourself

Start a new game from the main menu; it plays from the first person with keyboard and mouse, with partial controller support.
Walk through the subway cars with your flashlight and look around each one before moving on.
Interact with the objects you find to bring up the main character's memories.
Follow the changes of place as the story moves from the train into scenes of his childhood.
Explore slowly and search side areas for the hidden secrets the maker mentions.

Screenshots

A flashlight beam falls on a black case with a red cross on its lid, left on a seat in a dark subway car

Seen through a ring of flashlight, a child's bedroom with a green desk, a wall ladder and curtained window

An old carousel with white horses lit by lamps in a dark park at night

A dim cellar with a wooden staircase, empty shelves, two chairs and a lit candle on the floor

Tips

Play with headphones: the soundtrack and the sounds from the other side carry much of the story.
Take your time; it is a walking simulator, and rushing means missing secrets.
There are flashing images: the maker warns players with sensitivity to light.

Questions

How long is Find Yourself?

The maker gives an average time to complete of about 60 minutes.

How is Find Yourself related to Father's Day?

Both are by EMIKA_GAMES. Father's Day came out the next year as a prequel and spin-off to Find Yourself, following other characters through events earlier in the story.

Is there combat in Find Yourself?

No. The maker calls it a walking simulator: you explore, look and listen.

Is Find Yourself on consoles?

It is sold on Steam for Windows; no console or phone version turned up in the stores.