Between Worlds

**Between Worlds** is a 2023 supernatural-themed roleplaying game developed by an unknown indie studio and released on Steam. The game follows an unnamed ghost traversing a solitary, hostile environment composed of impossible materials in a plane of existence between life and death. Unable to communicate by conventional means with contemporaries, the ghost wanders about, searching for a way to free itself and find peace. Environments are 2D and the camera angle is left at a fixed top-down position like many traditional RPGS. The world is represented by black voids, colorful abstract backgrounds, and optical illusions. Rooms are similarly composed of abstract materials that usually combine to represent locations such as houses or churches and are strung together with little visible correlation.

It is never made clear in the game why the player character and the majority of non-playable encounters are ghosts, nor is it ever made clear whether any of them were explicitly alive to begin with. Although many of the other characters speak with cohesion, it is rare that any of them make direct reference to their present predicament or the form that they have taken. At times, characters will morph or completely disappear when the player moves away from them.

## Gameplay

The gameplay of *Between Worlds* is similar to many traditional roleplaying games, although there is a de-emphasis on turn-based combat and more of a focus on overworld exploration. The overworld is designed in a weblike fashion with many shortcuts, secret passageways, and intertwining paths to be found. It is split into many "rooms," each with at least one entrance and one exit.

Combat is engaged through random encounters that take place in the overworld. The screen will fade to black when the player moves onto a hostile tile, and then the combat screen will fade in. Turn-based combat is replaced with a variety of minigames that the player can play, depending on the type of enemy. When a minigame is completed, the player will win the battle, and the enemy will disappear; these victories do not contribute experience points to the player's level but will be counted nonetheless to an abstract victory statistic. As this statistic grows higher, the difficulty of world boss battles will lessen. The areas between boss battles have a limited amount of enemies that can be encountered before they stop appearing.

The only living things that appear throughout the game are cats, the link between reality and non-reality. Cats can be found in various locations, where they will communicate with the player. After encountering a cat, your game will be saved and then the animal will disappear.

## Progression and Bosses

*As your eyes adjust to the darkness, it becomes more and more clear that you are no longer home. You pull yourself up with a handlebar of nothing.*
The game begins in an area labeled Homeless. The player character wanders this strange landscape in despair, searching for nothing in particular. Along the way they encounter various other ghastly formations and strange landscapes, before making it to a desolate ghost "town" with several empty buildings. Here, the Blockade is found; it announces its intent to stop the player from advancing into the horror of darkness. It must be fought and destroyed to continue to the next area.

*The freezing air thins in your lungs.**It's becoming difficult to breathe...*???: *Hello?*???: *...*???: *I understand why you will not speak to me.*???: *Maybe you cannot speak at all.*???: *Choice or not, I understand. I always did.*???: *And you have to understand that I cannot let you pass.*???: *It's dangerous, and you do not know what God will do to you.*???: *You can see what He did to me.*???: *If you had seen everything I had seen, you would stay here, with me.*???: *Will you stay here with me?*
The player interaction with the Blockade following its destruction is as follows: