Junji Ito Maniac: An Infinite Gaol First-Person Horror Game Announced

Fans of legendary horror creator Junji Ito are in for another spine-chilling experience as Junji Ito Maniac: An Infinite Gaol has been officially announced by SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT. The game is a first-person horror title inspired by the Netflix anime Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, but it does not follow the series directly. Instead, it introduces an original storyline with Junji Ito himself involved in guiding and supervising its development.

While the name references the 2023 Netflix adaptation that collected 20 short stories from Ito’s manga, An Infinite Gaol presents a brand-new narrative. Players step into the role of a university student who wakes up inside a haunting Western-style mansion with no memories, carrying only a broken mobile phone. Inside the mansion lies a web of deadly traps, eerie mechanisms, and sinister secrets. Two key characters emerge to shape the story: a mysterious woman claiming to be trapped in the mansion and a determined female detective. Both play critical roles in solving the mystery and escaping.

True to Junji Ito’s style, the game brings his terrifying creations to life in interactive form. Players will encounter nightmarish entities such as the giant floating heads from The Hanging Balloons, the living hair from The Long Hair in the Attic, and the grotesque sculptures from Headless Sculptures. Survival depends on wit and caution as players navigate these horrors.

The gameplay focuses on three core elements. Exploration allows players to search the mansion for clues and items to regain lost memories and find a way out. Puzzle-solving challenges demand careful observation and intelligence to progress through the mansion’s secrets. Stealth and survival mechanics give players the choice to hide or use limited traps like bear traps to deal with certain enemies, but resources are scarce, adding tension to every encounter.

Junji Ito Maniac: An Infinite Gaol is shaping up to be a horror experience that blends the iconic dread of Junji Ito’s creations with fresh interactive storytelling. For fans of psychological terror and unsettling atmospheres, this will be one to watch.