Preview in Sound Mind: Don't lose your mind

Preview in Sound Mind

"To be in sound mind": Translated, it means something like "sane" or "to be in your mind". And the psychological horror game In Sound Mind from development studio We Create Stuff is all about the mind in many ways. In the role of the psychologist Desmond you have to solve the secrets of your patients with the help of tapes and you will soon find yourself in a dark parallel world, as we know it from The Medium, for example. The game will be released later this year for PC and the latest generation of consoles, but we were allowed to take a quick look and tell you what we were able to find out.

Can You Pet the Cat ?

In Sound Mind throw yourself straight into the action. As a psychologist Desmond you wake up in an abandoned building and first have to take a deep breath: Fortunately, you are safe in your office. Or maybe not? Because strange things are going on here too. Source: Modus Games find out what is actually going on. From the first person perspective you explore the nested corridors and solve one or the other puzzles. It doesn't take long and you'll find a flashlight that will make navigating the dimly lit rooms a lot easier. Soon you will also stumble upon a pistol, with which you will keep some creepy figures away from you in the course of the game. Equipped with the two most important items of the game, you will find your way to your office, where your cassette player is located. The initially inconspicuous device is the central element of In Sound Mind. If you insert one of the tapes scattered around the game, you travel into a mysterious, sometimes surreal world that is directly connected to the respective tape.

The abandoned building that houses your office serves as a hub, i.e. as a central hub. If you have explored one of the distorted tape worlds to the end, you return here to put the collected information together like in a puzzle. Only when you connect the stories on the tapes will the bigger picture be revealed to you. Because at the beginning of your journey you are still completely in the dark in this regard. Fortunately, in the Hub you have enough time to think, because the uninviting-looking walls are mostly a safe place, although mysterious things are hinted at here too. You will also find the cuddly cat Tonia in your office later. Lead developer Ido has already generously told us the most important feature of the game: Of course you can stroke Tonia.

Traumatic tapes

In Sound Mind currently offers four tapes and thus four confused worlds, the occupy yourselves for a few hours each. Each of the tapes tells the story of a special patient and the mirror from the first tape is a very important tool here too, so that you don't lose your head while trying to solve the puzzles. Source: Modus Games comes up with various puzzles and mechanics. In order to discover the secrets of all patients, you should explore the entire game world with open eyes and ears. In addition to partly encrypted but also informative documents, there are also a number of audio recordings that tell you more about the fate of the respective person. The different worlds behind the tapes differ not only in terms of their surroundings, but also use different colors to loosen up the otherwise rather gloomy game world. The colorful cover already suggests that In Sound Mind is not going to be a gray-on-gray mud festival.

In a demo, players were able to explore the first tape about patient Virginia, where it was not only about mysteries to be discovered but also various items could be collected - including a mirror, which also served us well in the world that followed. Therefore, we shouldn't leave the things that we come across on the road carelessly, but pack them up and keep them in the back of our minds.

In a preliminary event, lead developer Ido has now introduced us to the world of the second audio tape. Here everything revolves around the patient Alan, who is the Let there be light: Without your flashlight, nothing works on Alan's tape. Source: Modus Games fears darkness as much as it finds fascinating. In contrast to the very narrow and almost claustrophobic aisles of the abandoned supermarket from Virginia's tape (which you can already play in the free demo), you explore a much more open environment in the world of Alan. Ido explains that while the development team wanted to create an eerie atmosphere, they didn't want to neglect the element of exploration. In addition to the puzzle items, you can find food, ammunition or batteries for your flashlight. So Sound Mind also has some survival horror elements.

Because the world on the tape is shaped depending on the patient, Alan is a lot about the play of light and shadow. So Desmond soon has to search for the light that saves in the gloomy surroundings. A lighthouse can be seen on the horizon, but the way there leads over an inhospitable beach, full of huge fish skeletons and other horrors. Alan's fears are also reflected in a special enemy: Desmond is being pursued by a creature that swallows everything in its path like a bottomless hole. The uncanny So close and yet so far: the lighthouse seems to be the key to the solution. Source: Modus Games Vermin can also be used to your advantage, for example to remove obstacles. Just like Alan, the shadowy creature is also very sensitive to light, so the flashlight is your best friend. In addition to the tape-exclusive opponents, there is an entity that represents the entire game about a threat: the creepy man in a hat, who also graces the cover of In Sound Mind. What exactly this gruesome figure is all about remains hidden from the player for a long time.

Tradition and innovation shake hands

Although the developers of We Create Stuff created the Play world and the puzzles distributed there rather traditionally and be inspired by big brands such as Resident Evil, they are not afraid to go their own way. Lead developer Ido emphasizes that the studio's primary goal is to make a horror game that is fun. Players should be prepared for bizarre moments and surprising encounters. Despite the traditional approach, In Sound Mind should forego some features that we know from other horror games. For example, there is no fixed camera perspective to artificially generate boring shock effects. Instead, we move through the mysterious worlds in a classic first-person view.

Shows the musician The Living Tombstone, who is known from YouTube and has gained popularity in the past mainly through his songs based on video game franchises incidentally, is responsible for the entire soundtrack of In Sound Mind. Although, or precisely because the soundtrack is mostly reserved, it skilfully underlines the prevailing atmosphere of the individual worlds. For example, at the end of each tape we can look forward to a special song that is thematically based on the completed world.

In Sound Mind will be available later this year for PC, Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch appear. The psychological horror game is currently estimated at € 39.99. If you like the first impression, you can take a look at the free demo.