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Games Like Ib: Pixel-Art Horror Adventures

Ib leaves a young girl alone in an art gallery that turns into a world inside its paintings, with puzzles to solve and things in the frames that chase her. These games share its top-down pixel art, its mix of puzzles and sudden danger, and its creepy, story-led horror, many of them from the same Japanese indie scene.

The games

  1. The Witch's House MV key art: blonde Viola on the left, the purple-haired witch with glowing mismatched eyes looming in the sky, and a stone house with a black cat in its window 2D horrorThe Witch's House MVA girl in a witch's house in the forest whose door vanishes, where almost every room hides a trap: the closest match for Ib's sudden dangers.
  2. Mad Father key art: Aya, a black-haired girl with a red bow, cowers as a pale, blood-stained hand reaches for her 2D horrorMad FatherAn 11-year-old girl in her father's mansion as his experiments get loose, with sudden deaths behind wrong choices.
  3. Misao key art: a purple-haired girl in a red top and pink skirt curled up on her side with her arms over her head among dark red splashes 2D horrorMisao - 2024 HD RemasterA school pulled into an other world of violent spirits after a bullied girl vanished, from the maker of Mad Father.
  4. Time is Solid Here cover: a long-necked figure in black stands on a yellow background casting a scribbled shadow, beside the title and a Goethe Institute Standstill Project selection laurel PsychologicalTime is Solid HereStep into warped paintings along a hallway to help troubled figures move on, the nearest thing to Ib's living gallery.
  5. Lily's Well key art: a magenta outlined brick well with a wooden roof and a grey crank against a black background 2D horrorLily's WellFree: a little girl home alone on a rainy night hears someone crying at the bottom of the well.
  6. Ann key art: Security in his blue uniform and Ann in glasses and a pink hoodie stand back to back before the dark school building at night 2D horrorAnnA free tribute to Ib's era: an art student trapped in her school at night, with chases and deadly puzzles.
  7. Human Construction Site cover: a dark-haired figure's red eye seen through a red warning triangle behind greenish glass, with the title in red SurvivalHuman Construction SiteFree in the browser and made in Ib's image: wake in a locked cell and find a way out of a facility through puzzles and chases, with five endings.
  8. Symbiosis key art: a pixel-art woman and a child in a cat-ear beanie holding a bloody knife, among dead trees and pink flowers under a red moon 2D horrorSymbiosisA free browser game where you play the witch whose forest house has intruders, with codes and objects to work out in top-down pixel art.
  9. Being Her Darkest Friend key art: a pixel-art close-up of a woman's wide, staring eye under dark hair PsychologicalBeing Her Darkest FriendFree in the browser: an art student trapped in her own grey nightmare solves its puzzles to wake up, in about forty minutes.
  10. The Crooked Man key art: David with a frightened face beside a blurred, grinning yellow figure PsychologicalThe Crooked ManA man in a cheap new apartment is haunted by a crooked, grinning figure as he looks into the last tenant.
  11. Aooni key art: the pale purple face of the Ao Oni, grinning with big dark eyes, looming out of total darkness 2D horrorAooniFour teenagers hunted through a mansion by a huge, grinning blue demon, in the official remake of a Japanese classic.
  12. Angels of Death key art: blonde Ray in a white jacket and striped top beside bandaged Zack in a bloodstained hooded coat, grinning and waving in a dark corridor PsychologicalAngels of DeathA girl and a scythe-carrying killer climb a sealed building whose floors are kept by deranged captors.
  13. The Forest of Drizzling Rain key art: Suga in black holding a glowing blue sword beside Shiori cupping glowing blue drops, on a dark teal leafy background PsychologicalThe Forest of Drizzling RainA student's trip to a rainy village from an old photo turns into one long night of horror.
  14. Bevel's Painting screenshot: Bevel, a crowned girl in pink, stands on a green rug in a stone castle hall with red curtains and paint bottles on pedestals PsychologicalBevel's PaintingA young artist steps into her own glowing painting, a world of made-up language, paint puzzles and a reaper to hide from; free, from Japan.
  15. Blank Dream key art: the original Japanese title 虚白ノ夢 (Kohaku no Yume) in white on dark blue beside a column of glowing lights, marked 2015 Teriyaki Tomato PsychologicalBlank DreamA girl wakes in a Mirror World and opens themed realms of item puzzles and sudden deaths, one of them a gallery; free, from Japan.
  16. Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum key art: a brown-haired girl in a blue dress sits on a stained-glass rose-window floor holding a golden rose, red roses and petals around her PsychologicalPocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraumA girl without memories in a gothic dream mansion, remade from the 2016 RPG Maker game, with several endings.
  17. re:curse key art: the title in wobbly pale yellow letters with a rainbow glow on the dark red screen of an old CRT monitor Psychologicalre:curseA surreal RPG Maker horror game whose maker names Ib among its inspirations: a researcher's laboratory warps and decays around her.
  18. It's Not Me, It's My Basement key art: the pale-haired child in a bloodstained apron and bunny slippers hugs themselves before a closed lavender door, beside the title PsychologicalIt's Not Me, It's My BasementA short RPG Maker horror game about a child left alone at home while the basement waits, free on itch.io.
  19. The Well Speaks to Me key art: a white sketch of a stone well with a rope on black, beside the jagged hand-drawn title and a purple corner marked 1 PsychologicalThe Well Speaks to MeTwenty minutes of top-down RPG Maker horror: a woman's forest chores, the same each day, as the world changes around her.
  20. Yume Nikki Steam library art: pixel-art Madotsuki standing with eyes closed in her dim bedroom by a desk lamp, with a CRT television, bookshelf and door PsychologicalYume NikkiFree: wander the silent, senseless dreams of a girl who will not leave her room, with no words to explain them.
  21. Tales of the Black Forest key art: three anime girls, one white-haired in a kimono, one in school uniform, one with fox ears, before a dark pixel-art station 2D horrorTales of the Black ForestA girl who sees yokai, trapped in a cursed Japanese town and travelling back through its past to escape.
  22. Dead Plate cover art: a startled, sweating Rody and a calm, bare-shouldered Vince in oval frames above a plate and cutlery, with the title and 'Free on itch.io' 2D horrorDead PlateFree and short: a week as a waiter in a 1960s bistro under a chef with something to hide, with four endings.
  23. Look Outside key art: a wide-eyed man grips the curtains of a blazing window while toothed, many-eyed monsters crowd around him SurvivalLook OutsideA longer pixel-art survival horror RPG in one apartment building, where looking out the window makes you a monster.

The Witch's House is the closest companion to Ib. Viola walks into a house in the forest, the door vanishes behind her, and almost every room hides a trap, so one careless touch can mean a sudden, gory death. Mad Father, by the maker sen, follows an 11-year-old girl through her father's mansion on the anniversary of her mother's death as his experiments come loose, and his Misao pulls a whole school into an other world of violent spirits after a bullied girl vanished.

If what you loved was the gallery, Time Is Solid Here walks you down a hallway of warped paintings and has you step into each to help a troubled figure move on. Lily's Well is free and short: a little girl alone on a rainy night hears someone crying at the bottom of the well and gathers what she can to climb down. Ann is a free love letter to this era of RPG Maker horror, with Ib among its models: an art student breaks a school rule and is trapped in the building at night, with chase scenes and deadly puzzles, and only the security guard to help her out.

Two free browser games carry the same spirit. Human Construction Site, whose maker names Ib, Ao Oni and Angels of Death as its models, wakes you in a locked cell of a strange facility and asks you to find a way out through puzzles and chases, with five endings. Being Her Darkest Friend traps an art student, Selina, inside one of her own nightmares, a grey world of puzzles where people from her life come back as something else, and takes about forty minutes.

For something longer or darker, The Crooked Man follows a man whose new apartment comes with a crooked, grinning figure, Ao Oni is the official remake of the classic in which four teenagers are hunted through a mansion by a blue demon, and Angels of Death pairs a girl with a scythe-carrying killer climbing a sealed building of deranged captors. The Forest of Drizzling Rain, from the same maker as Angels of Death, takes a student to a rainy village where peaceful days end in one long night.

Three newer hits show where the scene has gone. Tales of the Black Forest, by the small Chinese team Shiying Studio, traps a schoolgirl who can see yokai in a dark Japanese town and sends her back through its history to escape, in about three and a half hours. Dead Plate is free and short: a waiter in a 1960s French bistro tries to earn what he can in a week under a charismatic chef, and the story turns to blood, with four endings. Look Outside, published by Devolver Digital, is the long one: everyone who looked out a window has become a monster, and you scavenge your apartment building, fight in turn-based battles and choose which neighbours to trust.

Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum is the lavish one: a remake of AstralShift's 2016 RPG Maker game in which a girl with no memory and a golden pocket mirror explores a gothic, dreamlike mansion of strange girls in elaborate dresses, with puzzles and several endings.

Three newer free RPG Maker games on itch.io keep the scene going. re:curse, whose maker names Ib among its inspirations, has a researcher explore her own laboratory as it warps and decays around her. It's Not Me, It's My Basement leaves a child alone at home for half an hour to an hour, keeping everything under control while the basement waits, and The Well Speaks to Me follows a woman doing the same chores alone in the forest each day as things change around her.

Yume Nikki is the odd one out: no puzzles to speak of, just a girl's silent, unexplained dreams, but it shaped much of this scene and is free.

Two more free Japanese games, both translated by vgperson, will feel like home to Ib players. In Bevel's Painting a young artist walks into her own glowing canvas, a world where nearly everyone speaks a made-up language, paint changes the world around her, and a reaper later hunts her through a house. Blank Dream sends a girl into a Mirror World between heaven and hell, where each realm, from a dark forest to a gallery whose artist wants paint, is a set of item puzzles full of ways to die; it deals with suicide head on. And Symbiosis, free in the browser, turns The Witch's House around: you are the witch, getting intruders out of her cottage in the woods.

If you only try one, play The Witch's House for the closest feel, or Mad Father for a longer story.

Questions

What games are like Ib?

The Witch's House, Mad Father and Misao are the closest: short top-down pixel-art horror adventures with puzzles, sudden deaths and a young heroine.

Are there free games like Ib?

Yes: Lily's Well, Ann, Human Construction Site, Being Her Darkest Friend, Symbiosis, Bevel's Painting, Blank Dream and Yume Nikki are free, and Time Is Solid Here is pay what you want.

Are games like Ib very gory?

Some are more violent than Ib: The Witch's House has sudden gory deaths, and Angels of Death and Mad Father have blood and corpses. Check each game's content notes.

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