ANOMALOGIST: Inumaki Manor

ANOMALOGIST: Inumaki Manor is a horror game set in the former Inumaki Estate, a mansion that mixes Japanese and Western architecture with traces of Taisho Roman style. It has stood abandoned for 20 years, and demolition work was halted after a series of machinery failures and accidents. The player takes the role of a specialist investigator of paranormal anomalies, asked by the shrine maiden of Inumaki Shrine to find the target coordinates needed for an exorcism. The investigator does not exorcise anything. The task is to record the phenomena as digital data using verification devices.

Play is split into two phases. During the day, the player moves freely around the mansion, searches for diaries, archives and items left by former residents, and solves hidden mechanisms and ciphers. At night, from midnight to 6:00 AM, the player must stay in a single room and cannot move. The player uses equipment to observe and record escalating phenomena. The devices are a Trifield Meter, a Microphone Level Meter, a Spirit Box, a Ghost Compass, and a Flashlight and UV Light. Relics found during the day, such as red shoes or dirty marbles, can be used at night to trigger stronger phenomena.

Staying in a room where phenomena are active raises a Mental Contamination Level, accompanied by increased visual noise and louder heartbeats. If the player gives in to madness, they lose consciousness before dawn, which ends the game. Recorded phenomena and discovered archives are compiled into a Verification Report. Gathering enough evidence advances the investigation to the next phase, which unlocks new rooms and reveals more of the estate’s history. The developer permits streaming and video content, including monetised videos, and asks that creators link to the Steam page and avoid major spoilers in thumbnails and titles.