DestinyLeah
Itch.io is a treasure trove of undiscovered talent, hidden away inside the haystack of crap games that ward people off of indie sites. Wading through the swamp can reveal fantastic games, though, like Monsoon Lab’s delightful phone sim Sara is Missing.
Sara is Missing pits a smartphone and an unsuspecting stranger against time to save the phone’s owner, Sara. You dredge through videos, emails, messages, and photos to find clues about Sara’s disappearance, aided by the creepiest AI this side of Skynet, IRIS. Sara’s phone knows she’s in trouble, because her messaging patterns and schedule have changed lately. She will restore deleted chat threads and pull up information for you if you just lead the way, and she’s happy to sacrifice anyone or anything to save her owner. Way to be heroically creepy, IRIS.
Sara is Missing is a little over an hour of fun to reach just one of the possible endings, with sick twists and horrifying phone calls along the way. There’s a single song on the phone that you can play in the background while you search, which makes the reading less tedious. The current short form of the game is a demo to drum up interest in the full version of Sara is Missing, which will be available in Q1 of 2017. For now, new players can pick the game up on Itch.io and pay what you want, or find it for free on Steam for Mac and PC. It’s also available on iOS and Google Play Store for mobile users, so everyone can join in the fun.
