Inversed

About Inversed

Inversed is a short visual novel by Tymedust Games, released in October 2024 for the O2A2 VN Jam, a micro jam with strict asset limits and a 1,000-word cap. It is free on itch.io, where it can be played in the browser, and on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux.

You spend a single night with Sheol, a poet and goth girl of the mid-19th century, drawn at her desk by candlelight among painted dahlias. She is racing time to finish the most important work of her life. Poetry is the answer, the game says, but what is the question? At set moments you choose words from a short list, and they become lines of her poems.

The whole game is voiced by Ariel Graham, with soft music, and it plays for ten to fifteen minutes. The maker warns that it contains scenes of psychological horror. Its unease comes from Sheol herself: she knows you while you know nothing, she talks about hiding in darkness and about what she will endure, and the quiet scene does not stay quiet. Players describe it as haunting, sad and creepy rather than loud.

Sheol also appears in the studio's Poetry in Purgatory. Inversed suits players who like very short literary horror visual novels, played in the dark with headphones as the maker suggests.

How to play Inversed

1. Open Inversed on itch.io and play it in the browser, or download it free from itch.io or Steam.
2. Turn the lights out and put headphones on, as the maker recommends.
3. Click or press a key to advance Sheol's lines.
4. When the word buttons appear, choose one to add it to her poem.
5. Play to the end of the night, about ten to fifteen minutes.

Tips

• The maker says the browser version can show graphical or sound glitches; download it for the best experience.
• Listen closely at the end, where some lines are played in reverse.
• Your word choices shape the poems, so a second play shows different verses.

Questions