Demo let out for Inner Voice 

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Full version of first-person psychological horror mystery due out on PC in the first quarter of 2026

Ghost towns get their name not from actually being haunted, but from their eerie emptiness, their once-thriving populations having long since deserted the premises. However, the ghost town at the center of Inner Voice, by indie developer X INTERACTIVE, may indeed have ghosts of its own – or at least, the lingering remnants left behind by a man torn by grief. 

It's late 1900 when Booker returns to the mining town of Brightstone where he and his wife Diana once called home. But Diana is now lost to him, leaving Booker to wallow in remorse over his neglect, the town abandoned not just by its people but by "time and sanity" as well. The setting is now immersed in perpetual shadow, mirroring Booker's own "guilt and fear," and as he revisits the various homes, church, hotel, saloon, and surrounding areas, gradually the "mysteries of this haunting world begin to unravel." Progress through town and beyond is due in large part to the help of the "enigmatic" Magnus White, a voice that serves not just as a narrator that can be heard by the player, but also by Booker himself. To find the answers Booker seeks, players must scour each environment across four distinct chapters, solving light puzzles and uncovering new locations and details along the way. But we're warned to "be careful," as "with no way to fight, no allies and only your instincts to rely on, every step could be your last."

Presented in free-roaming 3D, Inner Voice is a linear first-person adventure that depends as much on its sounds as its sights to procure a richly eerie atmosphere. Yes, there are creepy images throughout this "haunted Victorian/Western world blending reality with fiction," from the ominous hangman's noose and loose coffins, to ghostly images that disappear up close, to skin-crawling mannequins appearing out of nowhere. Even your own form seems ethereal, as you look down and see only a wispy, vapour-like form holding a candle for light. But Brightstone is a town that's been "buried in silence and pain," and it's in the quiet that most of its darkest secrets will be revealed, whether through ghostly whispers, radios and pianos playing of their own accord, or through the ongoing comments of Magnus filling in missing pieces of the puzzle. But who is Magnus, really? Is he a real unseen presence, or just a symbolic fabrication of Booker's tortured internal state? Whatever his true nature, Magnus serves a vital purpose as "part conscience, part guide" through the "twisted remnants" of this place toward one of three main endings. There's even a "hidden secret ending based on player's choices," encouraging replays to try different approaches.

Published by Dionous Games, the full version of Inner Voice is due to launch on Steam sometime in the first quarter of 2026. In the meantime, you can already take your tentative first steps through the playable demo that is available for download on Windows PC.