Indie horror Ian’s Eyes heading for Steam this summer, try its free demo

Ian’s Eyes is an upcoming survival horror game that sees you fill the paws of North—a guide dog tasked with steering the titular eight year-old Ian around his first day at Blue Norholm Centenary School. It’s been a while since I left school, far less started it, but I imagine this would be a pretty intimidating experience at the best of times, Things get decidedly worse, though, when North discovers all is not well in the backwater town of Wintreal. You see, it seems Blue Norholm is haunted. Not the best of starts, then.

“Instead of bringing Ian to his classes, it's now your job to lead him and yourself to safety after his schoolmates have turned into zombies,” says developer Sindie Games of their debut project. “Their glowing eyes might look disturbing, but the zombies will only follow the sounds North and Ian make. It's up to you to decide whether sound or silence will help you sneak past them. Sometimes North can go ahead and clear the way for Ian, but you can't leave the poor boy alone for too long: He might panic and die!”

That last part sounds like an interesting conceit, and sort-of sounds like a more sophisticated—or sensible, perhaps—take on Amnesia’s panic mechanic. What’s more, the game’s quirky, Burton-esque aesthetics, and the fact that Ian’s zombie classmates remind me of Kevin from the first Sin City, make me suddenly realise I’m not sure if I really want to play Ian’s Eyes when it launches this summer on Steam.

I probably will though, because I’m a glutton for horror games. But, um, you first. I’m right behind you, I swear.

In the meantime, why not check out Ian’s Eyes’ free demo?