Quick Review: The Inner World

An odd duo taking down a dictator!

The first screen of many. How can we get to that darn bird?
Maybe the shady guy in a trench coat has a solution.

Developed by Studio Fizbin, published by Headup and released on September 27th, 2013, The Inner World is a hand-drawn point & click game. Asposia exists within a planet rather than outside, and gets its air from large wind tunnels guarded by monks. All Asposians have pointy, striped noses, except Robert, whose nose instead has holes, allowing him to play it like a flute. He works as a disciple under Conroy, the only wind monk whose tunnel still works; Conroy elevated himself to spiritual leader of Asposia due to this. Worse even, large flying monsters called the Basilians often pop out of the tunnels, turning Asposians to stone with their stares. The story kicks off when a pigeon flies into Conroy’s home and steals a pendant, and Robert falls down the garbage chute chasing it, landing into Asposia's streets. He meets Laura, a sarcastic Asposian with plans of her own. Robert will learn that in this world, very little is as it seems…

Still not sure (yet) why the barmaid gave us a beverage that
feels like it could be more of a pipe degreaser than a drink.

I can use this funnel as a helmet now! And I should also
take back my doll from that creature.

Most of this point & click's gameplay goes through the mouse, selecting elements on the screen to observe or (try to) take them. Holding down the left button reveals  dots over every décor element that can be interacted with. You can combine items in your inventory, accessible at the bottom of the screen (ex. Putting together a reed and a hook to grab something from afar). You can also take combinations apart when their pieces are useful again later. Only a few items are carried between chapters, most notably a Conroy doll that gets destroyed over time (deservedly).

I saved this little mouse! It just took me putting three items
together! Now, little guy, you're going into an ear horn.

I could clean this shield... but only if the shield, and the rust
itself, are useful elsewhere afterwards!

You usually play as Robert, aside from one section where he is captured, and we play as Laura instead. The only difference is that Laura is snarkier (compared to the sheltered, naïve, sweet Robert), and she doesn’t have the flute nose, which you play to solve a few puzzles, through an option in the inventory. The flute nose has its own “mode”, a single mini-game accessible from the main menu. (Good luck getting a decent score on it.)

Flute-Nose Hero

Please ignore the openly propagandist messsaging of the 
"play" that Robert manipulates to find an open passage...

This game has the classics of a point & click: Puzzles with solutions that make marginal sense, even if you figure them out by yourself. A cast of silly characters with their own stories, and all sorts of shenanigans to inflict on them. Detailed scenes and backgrounds; if an area keeps being available once you’ve done everything, then you’ll have to go back for something else later. Just gotta figure out what. There’s even a hint system for players who get stuck, though there are achievements to unlock if you can play through the whole thing without them.

My favorite moment: Repeating to a sin confession machine
a sin heard from someone else, and it's so outrageous that
it instantly breaks the machine. Fuck, that was hilarious.

The story is rich and interesting, with tons of worldbuilding to find (and some puzzles hinge on utilizing knowledge gathered during the story). The tone is humorous, with some edge to be found in several gags; some of them get saucy, implications-wise. Our main characters form a fun team, and it’s great to see their relationship develop as they unearth their world's greatest secrets. Cutscenes and many puzzle solutions are fully animated.

The only true negative I have about this game is that, during a few sessions it tended to “break” in ways that forced a restart, during the pause menu or after combining items, with one specific instance being a total crash forcing a game restart.  But with that aside, all in all, good stuff, really.

The Inner World is available on Steam at a big discount till tomorrow at 1.49$ USD, usually 14.99$.