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Imaginary Friends is a RPG Maker VX Ace horror/puzzle game that explores childhood fears and loneliness. You explore the main character's childhood by solving puzzles, while covering the past events to find the reason why she doesn't have any friends. The Game relies more on psychological horror rather than jump scares and gore.

More about the game's development at my game development blog.

The Story
14-year-old Hailey has spent her entire summer vacation alone in her room. Her mother wants her to go outside and spent time with her friends, but the problem is, she doesn't have any. That is about to change soon when Hailey finds herself in an imaginary world. With the help of a mysterious young boy with red cap, she has to confront her childhood and herself.

Features
*custom made graphics
*original music
*multiple endings

Also available in following languages:
Korean: https://blog.naver.com/jd3842/220813418695
Spanish: http://tamashimx.net/imaginary-friends/
Russian: https://sadbreadcrumb.tumblr.com/post/169147124313/imaginary-friends-russian-translation-finished


Latest Blog

Version 1.0.2 Released!

Fixed a bug where you could skip entire last level.
  • Completed
  • mannytsu
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • Puzzle
  • 10/11/2014 11:40 AM
  • 03/18/2024 03:45 AM
  • 05/01/2016
  • 275280
  • 164
  • 14637

Tags

Posts

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I Went to record the next episode of my let's play on this but I'm stuck:
I'm in cloud kingdom and the king is just asking if the kingdom is saved yet. I Just Heard the Bell Ring But I don't have any more problems to solve, also I Can't solve the mysterious note, I know it has to do with directions on the beach, But I can't figure out where to start, If Anymore context is needed the Let's Play Is on the media page...

Thanks!
author=TangledLion
I Went to record the next episode of my let's play on this but I'm stuck:
I'm in cloud kingdom and the king is just asking if the kingdom is saved yet. I Just Heard the Bell Ring But I don't have any more problems to solve, also I Can't solve the mysterious note, I know it has to do with directions on the beach, But I can't figure out where to start, If Anymore context is needed the Let's Play Is on the media page...

Thanks!


Here's a hint:
You have to get the text "You feel warmth inside you" four times. Did you pick up the shovel from the garden yet? Use that and the note to dig around the beach :)
author=mannytsu
author=TangledLion
I Went to record the next episode of my let's play on this but I'm stuck:
I'm in cloud kingdom and the king is just asking if the kingdom is saved yet. I Just Heard the Bell Ring But I don't have any more problems to solve, also I Can't solve the mysterious note, I know it has to do with directions on the beach, But I can't figure out where to start, If Anymore context is needed the Let's Play Is on the media page...

Thanks!
Here's a hint:
You have to get the text "You feel warmth inside you" four times. Did you pick up the shovel from the garden yet? Use that and the note to dig around the beach :)

I Actually figured it out just Last Night accidentally, I also Beat Endings 3 and 4, After I Do 1 and 2 I'll only have editing left for the let's plays.
Finished with Ending 3. Struggled for a bit with the safe puzzle, but after learning it's determined by a choice you make at the start of the game... not worth it. I drew a picture of a girl when I should have drawn a boy before I knew what either the boy or girl represented, therefore no Best End for me? That seems unfair.

There wasn't a lot of thematic consistency throughout this. The dollhouse area was nicely creepy, but I don't see what it had to do with anything. Why does the hat doll fall apart and attack you? Does the boy doll represent anyone? Why is there a random severed head I can't do anything with? What does the tea party and envious doll have to do with anything? It feels like you're just ticking off a cliche box there. Likewise, I don't get what's up with the candy in the house -- so Hailey has an abusive mom/dad that we never learn anything about? Or she feels guilty about disobeying her parents? Okay??? What's the point of that? It never goes anywhere.

Likewise, I'm not clear on what red cap boy is getting out of this.

Why does he keep trying to kill Hailey, by locking her in the tree or just straight-up killing her when she's invisible? I presume he's responsible for the whole magic spirit journey in the first place, so I also take it he's trying to kill her from all the lethal hazards. If he's her imaginary friend, won't killing her kill him too? Why is he doing this? And why does he try to kill Oliver? Isn't that killing himself? Maybe the other endings shed more light on this but I really don't get it.

The ending conversation with Alex also felt really wooden and stilted, but if it's all taking place in Hailey's head that makes some sense.

It's weird to me that the hook to make you get the best ending seems to be helping Oliver, though? Letting go of imaginary friends seems like an important part of growing up, so I don't understand why it's good for Hailey to cling to him. Is she secretly, like, a wizard, and her mind turned Oliver into a real person? I don't get it. I assumed the two friends in the story were actually the other way around, that Hailey abandoned a real friend for the sake of an imaginary one and now he was going all psycho ghost on her, just because if he's the one who's not real I don't understand why I'm supposed to care about him.


There were also some text errors throughout -- nothing major, but mom/dad weren't capitalized when used as names, some commas got dropped, and some messages didn't end with punctuation. Portraits also seemed inconsistent.
Notoh
*Deeply Thinking*
1928
So when I first saw that Imaginary Friends was finished I wanted to play the game and review it. However, I'm thinking that after I've finished it, I will not be reviewing this game. I played this game with little to no background information, so nothing was hyped, but, to paraphrase, I really was not the biggest fan of the game, nor did I dislike it. I agree with a lot that argh has to say, and they make some really good points, so I will try not to repeat them. I think that overall this game wasn't my cup of tea.

Firstly, I do want to say that the art is very nice! I enjoyed all of the facial expressions and I think that the CGs were very beautiful. The maps were all well-made, I really enjoyed the doll house area as well! The music was very nice, it didn't get annoying or too repetitive. A few of the tracks really amped up the mood, which helped with immersion a lot. As for other stuff, I do have a bit to write here, spoilers of course will be in the hide boxes.

There was very little horror. I was really antsy at the beginning of the game because I expected to be scared by the mental/emotional stuff + the environment more with little to no jump scares as quoted in the description...

author=Game Description
The Game relies more on psychological horror rather than jump scares and gore.


You definitely don't need jump scares and gore to make a good horror game. But what I don't get here is why this game is listed/stated as a psychological horror. There was nothing that was going on emotionally/mentally with Hailey or anyone else that frightened me at all! I mean sure, I was definitely confused at some points, however, I will get to that later when I talk about the spoilers/endings.

I really feel like the Imaginary World has A LOT of missed opportunities story wise and horror wise. I really thought that you were going to build this world up as something sweet and innocent before dropping me down to something more terrifying and sinister. But like stated earlier, there isn't much horror other than the TV monsters, the occasional shadow people that are in some areas, or the doll with the hat. Which really, is a huge opportunity missed especially if you were going for psychological horror! You could've played on Hailey's loneliness in the first part, or even somehow messed with us using Oliver more.

For the characters, I liked Oliver. I thought it was interesting how he has changed over time. Hailey was okay, she was pretty dull though. She was funny in conversations/interactions with other characters, but never does she really react to any of the horrific things she sees like the dolls, or even the older version of Oliver which you really could've played up more. I wish we could've gotten to know her better as a character.

For the endings/spoilerish stuff...

I was so confused with the events surrounding Alex. So is this all in Hailey's head?? I have no idea because I really had no context other than the fact that she is somehow in the Imaginary World. Why is Oliver constantly trying to kill Hailey in the Imaginary World as the shadow boy? He brought her there, yeah? Why is there two manifestations of him? Younger and older? In one of the endings we talk to old Oliver but then we go right back to young Oliver in the room again. What the heck happened to the older Oliver?? (By the way, older Oliver is kinda cute.) And is he just gonna be stuck there in the Imaginary World forever again? I mean like, Hailey is going to forget him again, eventually right? Is he not going to pass on? Are old Oliver and young Oliver the same or two different things overall?? Does this mean that since young Oliver is stuck there that he'll become someone else's Imaginary Friend and the cycle repeats?? I have a lot of questions because I feel like I just bought a whole cake and only got a small slice.


Those are just my thoughts for now. I could probably write a lot more but I feel like I got most of the things that were stuck in my head out. Again, this just may not be my cup of tea. I hope you continue making games, mannytsu and good luck with any future projects! :)
Hi! I love your game but i eem to be a bit stuck.
Im trying to get all the puzzle peices for the drawing.
I can tell its her and Alex but I'm missing the piece that actually say "Alex" would you mind tellling me where the pieces are? I dont mind spoilers I've just been trying to get past it too long ll
author=jadesanora
Hi! I love your game but i eem to be a bit stuck.
Im trying to get all the puzzle peices for the drawing.
I can tell its her and Alex but I'm missing the piece that actually say "Alex" would you mind tellling me where the pieces are? I dont mind spoilers I've just been trying to get past it too long ll


It's hard to say which of the piece you are missing, since it doesn't matter what order you find them. Check out this walkthrough http://mannytsusgames.tumblr.com/ifwalkthrough

Goo luck! :)
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
EDIT: Disregard this because I didn't show my work. It's funny, I was thinking PEMDAS, but I wasn't using PEMDAS.
Professor_Q
"Life is a riddle I wish I had the answer for..."
3237
Excellent game! I'm working on a review for it now. You almost made me tear up with that final dedication. (Not a very manly thing to own up to, but still... ^_^) Great work!
I can't seem to download the game, it keeps failing every time it's about to complete downloading. What should I do?
Dragnfly
Beta testers!? No, this game needs a goddamn exorcist!
1809
I just re-downloaded it to confirm. It did download for me but god that was slow. So maybe it just timed out for you.
author=Dragnfly
I just re-downloaded it to confirm. It did download for me but god that was slow. So maybe it just timed out for you.
author=Dragnfly
I just re-downloaded it to confirm. It did download for me but god that was slow. So maybe it just timed out for you.


I tried doing it again and it still fails to download right at the end. ;(
It finally got downloaded! I've already started playing it. The game's amazing <3 I'm enjoying it :D

I'm making a gameplay of it. Here's the first part's link: Imaginary Friends Part I
Love this game because its gameplay is engaging
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