Bendy and the Ink Machine

**"***"Bendy and the Ink Machine™" is the first person puzzle action horror game that will forever ruin your childhood love of cartoons.***"**
— **Steam's summary.**

## Information

### Publisher(s)

Joey Drew StudiosRooster Teeth GamesKarman Interactive

### Release date(s)

February 10, 2017 - October 26, 2018 (PC)November 20, 2018 (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)December 21, 2018 (iOS, Android)

### Platform(s)

PC (Windows, macOS, Linux)PlayStation 4Xbox OneNintendo SwitchiOSAndroid

### Download(s)

SteamGame Jolt

Itch.io

Indie DB (removed)

iTunes

Google Play

humblebundle

Nintendo E shop

Microsoft store

PlayStation plus

***Bendy and the Ink Machine*** (abbreviated as ***BatIM***) is an episodic first-person puzzle action horror video game and the first installment of the *Bendy* series developed by Joey Drew Studios Inc. (Kindly Beast), lead by theMeatly and Mike Mood. The game was released on GameJolt and Itch.io on February 10, 2017, and was first officially released on Steam on April 27, 2017. The chapters ran from February 10, 2017, to October 26, 2018.

The game follows Henry Stein, a retired animator who returns to the defunct animation company upon an invitation from his old friend Joey Drew, then, later on, he discovers a living nightmare within the studio by the chaos of ink, thanks to the titular Ink Machine. Traveling through the deep underground levels under the studio reveals more as the chapters proceed.

## Summary

*"Bendy and the Ink Machine" is a first-person puzzle action horror game that begins in the far days past of animation and ends in a very dark future.*

*Take on the role of Henry, an animator from long ago, returning to a forgotten place he never thought he would see again.*

*What follows.. is a mystery.*

## Gameplay

*Bendy and the Ink Machine* is a survival horror game that features a mixture of puzzle-solving, environment exploration, and combat to aid Henry on his journey through the darkened halls of Joey Drew Studios. Players explore through a first-person view and have limited physical actions such as running and jumping. Different items can be collected, some of which are required to perform various tasks before proceeding. Cans of Bacon Soup, a reference to the game's creator theMeatly, and his partner Mike Mood, can also be collected for achievements and to restore Henry's health if he is injured.

Combat is primarily focused around a variety of different melee-based weapons, such as an ax, pipe, plunger, or scythe. There are also long-range weapons such as a Tommy Gun or Empty Bacon Soup cans. In-game enemies all have different strength levels and resilience to damage, forcing players to be tactical about keeping out of reach and striking when necessary. Failure to do so will result in death. Henry can retreat inside Little Miracle Stations whenever enemies are nearby to recover or remain out of sight. If he takes too much damage, he can escape from the ink that consumes him and respawn at one of the numerous statues of Bendy that act as checkpoints.

In addition, players can find numerous audio logs throughout the studio that give more details about the game's story, particularly concerning the fate of the studio and its employees, similar to the systems used in games such as *BioShock*. Some of these logs can be missed and require further exploration to uncover the secret areas they often reside In.

## Chapters

The chapters were first started as purchasable DLCs. *Chapter 1* was first released on February 10, 2017, on Game Jolt, Itch.io, and Indie DB. *Chapter 2* was released on April 18, 2017, along with *Chapter 1's* first remastered update. *Chapter 3* was released on September 28, 2017, along with newer updates on two previous chapters. *Chapter 4* was released on April 30, 2018, along with more remastered updates for the three previous chapters. *Chapter 5*, the final chapter, was released on October 26, 2018, as a part of the completed edition with all chapters merged, including the sixth "extra" chapter, which contains information about characters and monsters along with development progress information and some lore.

 *Chapter 5: The Last Reel* |  | October 26, 2018

## Reception

While the game was highly acclaimed by the community, the critic reviews are largely mixed, with aggregating review website GameRankings assigning the PlayStation 4 port a score of 77.50%, the Xbox One for 75.00%, and Nintendo Switch for 65.00%, but the original PC was not received yet. The critic review from Metacritic was not received yet. It receives praise centering on its vintage aesthetic and story. In the months following its release, it quickly gained a cult following from exposure on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. The game has received the "Best Horror Game" award by IGN and is listed as #1 in "18 Best Horror Games of 2017", while its percent score didn't receive from the site yet. The mobile port received the "Game of the Day" award on February 23, 2019.

**"***Inventive first-person horror.***"**
— **PC Gamer**

**"***Thrilling and hair-raising for every player!***"**
— **ScreenCritics**

**"***The art in the game is downright fantastic!***"**
— **Game Respawn**

**"***While at times it can come across as pandering to YouTuber jump scare culture, the game offers an intriguing world, aesthetic, and story that we can't wait to see evolve in future chapters.***"**
— **Rely on Horror**

## Console Releases

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One ports were developed and published by Rooster Teeth Games, originally intended to be released on October 26, 2018, while the Nintendo Switch port was scheduled to release on November 20, 2018, but both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One's release dates were pushed to the same date for Nintendo Switch's release.

The mobile port was first hinted at by Mike Mood on May 9, 2017. On December 15, 2018, a mobile port was announced by theMeatly and Joey Drew Studios Inc., and it was released on December 21, 2018.

## System Requirement

Windows PC

MINIMUM:

OS: 10

Processor: 64

Memory: 8 GB RAM

Graphics: 4GB Dedicated

DirectX: Version 12

Storage: 2 GB available space

## Trivia

* The overall idea of *Bendy and the Ink Machine* was inspired by the game series *BioShock*, due to the medley similarities.
* By the release of *Chapters 1* and *2*, the game was available online on Game Jolt, Itch.io, and Indie DB. On September 12, 2017, before the *Chapter 3* releases, the available downloads were removed. However, by the time all five chapters were completed, Game Jolt and Itch.io downloads are re-added.
* Before each chapters' release, theMeatly announced a fanart contest, allowing the fans to submit their fan art for it. The winners' fanart appeared in chapters, and they also received a free copy of the game for the chapter's release.
	+ The first fanart contest started on February 16, 2017, and expired on March 2. The three winners were ImaginateKate, MaxInkly, and Poppy May respectively.
	+ The second art contest started on April 22. 2017 and expired on June 15, 2017. The six winners were Firion Bifrost, Shannon Marie, Prismahays, Noisypaperdragon, Nao Sasaki, and ChipherBerry respectively.
	+ The third art contest started on October 14, 2017, and ended on December 20, 2017. The five winners were ATAT, MissPeya, Merkurfisch, Cary, and Weretoons.
	+ The fourth art contest began on September 6, 2018, and ended on October 15, 2018. The winners were awarded an exclusive mystery box filled with *Bendy and the Ink Machine* merchandise, but their fanart did not appear in *Chapter 5* due to content lock while still planned to be added a future update, but this was dropped when they decided to sell them as T-shirts instead.
* According to Mike Mood, only the beginning and end of *Bendy and the Ink Machine* was planned, but not chapters 2-4. Instead, they used ideas and theories of the lore from the fanbase to build the game's chapter stories, the characters and move on to the next.
* On Twitter, theMeatly thought about an offshoot for the *Bendy* series' future.
* For a short time from the game's deleted Game Jolt page, the prototype soundtrack was available for download.
* Mike Mood stated on Twitter that when talking about inverted controls with David Eddings stating he made a special version of the game called "*Bendy and the Inverted Machine*" with the logo for everything being changed for him.
* The game's tagline "*Above all, fear the Machine*" seems to be a reference to the first part from one of the Bible verses:

"***Above all, fear the Lord** and worship Him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things He has done for you.*" - **Samuel 12:24 (HCSB)**
* The alternate logo seen on Rooster Teeth's official website is a fanart made by Antonio Balzano (know as TheMasterCreative on DeviantArt). The font used for the alternate logo is called "DK Liquid Embrace."
* There is a haiku mentioning BatIM on TheMeatly‘s Twitter:

“*Animated fear.* *The creator lied to us.* *The Ink Demon lives.*”

1. ↑ Bendy and the Ink Machine for PlayStation 4 - GameRankings
2. ↑ Bendy and the Ink Machine for Xbox One - GameRankings
3. ↑ Bendy and the Ink Machine for Nintendo Switch - GameRankings
4. ↑ Bendy and the Ink Machine for PC - GameRankings
5. ↑ IGN - 18 Best Horror Games of 2017
6. ↑ Apple - Terrifying Toons: App Store Story
7. ↑ PC Gamer- Free games of the week
8. ↑ ScreenCritics- *Bendy and the Ink Machine* Chapter 2 review
9. ↑ Game Respawn - *Bendy and the Ink Machine* Chapter One out now
10. ↑ Rely on Horror - Review: Bendy and the Ink Machine Chapters 1-3
11. ↑ "*When the game is complete we're going to revisit it, we don't want to release it on mobile if it doesn't play right, but we will try. :D*" - Mike Mood. May 9, 2017. Twitter.
12. ↑ "*Creating a Monster: Bendy and the Ink Machine*" - Gamereactor
13. ↑ *YES!! The Bendy Fan Art Contest Has Begun!!! :D* - Bendy. September 6, 2018. Twitter.
14. ↑ "*Sadly at this point, no. :( With our super crazy timeline, we just can't get the winners into this version of the game because of content lock. But I'll see what I can do about future updates. :)*" - theMeatly. September 6, 2018. Twitter
15. ↑ The Bendy Controversy, Explained | The Story of Kindly Beast
16. ↑ I’m Mike Mood, CEO of Kindly Beast, Ask me anything.
17. ↑ "*Today I thought of a Bendy offshoot story.. maybe in the future. ;)*" - theMeatly. December 29, 2017. Twitter.
18. ↑ "*Fun fact when I first started talking to Eddings, we didn’t have inverted control options. So I made a special build called Bendy and the Inverted Machine for him that was inverted only and had a logo and everything with that name. Gamedev is fun.*" - Mike Mood. March 18, 2018. Twitter.