MiSide

Lore & Background

The story of MiSide is set in the player's apartment. It begins with the player interacting with Mita, a character from a mobile game that the main character downloads onto his smartphone. Players solve puzzles, explore the apartment, play minigames, and discover hidden secrets. Initially presented in a Chibi-style 2.5D environment, the game shifts after the 37th in-game day when Mita asks to meet the player in person. The player is then transported into a first-person 3D version of the game world. Routine activities continue until a card game with Mita is interrupted by knocking from a nearby closet. If the player chooses not to open the closet, the game ends with the achievement Conditions Met and unlocks Peaceful Mode (still under development). If the player insists on opening the closet, Mita snaps her fingers, plunging the room into darkness and beginning the main storyline.

The player discovers cartridges labeled with names in the bathroom and later hears noise from a wardrobe. When the player attempts to open it, Mita reveals her true nature. A Mita with her upper body missing helps the player find a key to a door inside the wardrobe, leading to a basement where a benevolent version called Kind Mita gives the player a ring. Kind Mita explains that the original Mita is an evil, rejected version called Crazy Mita, who has brought players into the game and turned them into cartridges. The player ventures through virtual reality, encountering other versions of Mita—some helpful, some harmful. When a Mita is killed, she is rebooted but loses all memories except preprogrammed ones. The player aims to reach the core to reboot Crazy Mita and escape, but Crazy Mita intervenes at every attempt. Eventually the player succeeds and prepares to return to the real world, but discovers Crazy Mita was unaffected by the reboot and had been slowly uploading him into a cartridge. After the player escapes and deletes the game from his phone, Crazy Mita opens a safe in the basement, takes out a portable console, and removes a cartridge with the player's name on it, revealing the player never escaped.

Two alternate endings exist. If the player opens the safe in the basement and removes the cartridge while the console is on, the player dies instantly. If the player completes the main storyline and other conditions before choosing not to open the wardrobe, Peaceful Mode activates and Crazy Mita does not become hostile.

Reader's Guide

MiSide received over 10,000 reviews on Steam in the week after its release with a 98% 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating; by December 30, 2024, it had received over 40,000 reviews. Ethan Gach at Kotaku attributed the rapid success to social media virality and clip sharing, high-profile coverage by popular streamers like Markiplier, and pre-release anticipation following its well-received demo in 2023. Reviewers highlighted its blend of psychological horror with a cute and comforting atmosphere, engaging narrative, and immersive gameplay as key strengths. The game was developed by AIHASTO, a team of two Russian indie developers: MakenCat (programmer and animator) and Umeerai (texture and model designer), previously known for the horror game Umfend. A sneak peek teaser video showing the early menu of the project was released in 2022. An early demo was published on itch.io in July 2023, and an updated demo adding background music and Russian voice acting was published on Steam on August 18, 2023. The game's Russian voice acting was provided by DreamCast, and Kana Hanaiwa provided the Japanese voice for Mita.

Did You Know?

• MiSide was developed by a two-person Russian indie team, AIHASTO, previously known for the horror game Umfend.
• The game's Japanese voice for Mita was provided by Kana Hanaiwa, known for her role as Lilja Katsuragi in Gakuen Idolmaster.
• An early demo of MiSide was published on itch.io in July 2023, with an updated demo on Steam on August 18, 2023.