Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination is a single-player RPG and adventure title available on PS5 that blends choose-your-own-adventure storytelling with horror elements set inside the dystopian offices of SMYRNACORP. Players take on the role of a new employee navigating moral dilemmas, cryptic challenges, and corporate intrigue in a post-truth world where survival depends on clever decisions and personal growth.
Gameplay
The core loop centers on reading through a branching narrative while making frequent choices that shape both the story and the protagonist's abilities. Decisions often require holding a button to confirm, adding weight to each selection and preventing hasty mistakes. Choices can unlock new dialogue options, grant items, or improve stats in areas such as physical, social, and technological skills. These improvements open secret paths and alter how later events unfold.
Interactive puzzles appear throughout, including password locks, code cracking, and tasks that involve manipulating digital elements like video footage or computer systems. Players must also handle tasks such as stealing data or accessing restricted areas to meet company demands. The experience emphasizes consequences, with no easy way to reload previous saves, making each playthrough feel deliberate and irreversible in its outcomes.
Hidden items and skill progression encourage exploration of the text-based environments. Befriending or clashing with coworkers and supervisors influences available routes, while the overall structure supports hundreds of possible story variations leading to multiple endings.
Game Modes
Inhuman Resources offers a single-player narrative experience built around one core interactive story. There are no separate competitive or cooperative modes. Instead, the game focuses entirely on replaying the central campaign through different decision paths to uncover alternate routes, character developments, and conclusions. This structure rewards multiple playthroughs as new skills and items from prior runs can reveal previously inaccessible content.
The non-linear design integrates puzzle-solving and light RPG progression directly into the story flow, creating a unified mode where every session advances the same overarching tale of corporate survival and hidden evils within SMYRNACORP.
Narrative and World Building
The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion as players uncover the true nature of SMYRNACORP through cryptic riddles and morally complex encounters. Coworkers range from demented to sadistic, and supervisors enforce expectations that push ethical boundaries. Uncovering these layers requires balancing personal sanity against company demands.
A collection of short stories written by Canadian authors expands the universe beyond the main campaign. These pieces provide additional lore and context for the corporation's operations and the post-truth society it dominates. The narrative blends psychological horror with satire on workplace culture, delivered through striking visuals, original music, and sound design that heighten tension during key moments.
Is It Worth Playing?
Inhuman Resources suits players who enjoy text-heavy interactive fiction, branching narratives, and psychological horror with light RPG mechanics. Its short length, around four to five hours per playthrough, makes it accessible for those seeking a focused experience rather than lengthy campaigns. The emphasis on meaningful choices and skill-based pathing adds replay value for those willing to explore different employee profiles and outcomes.
Reception highlights the weight of decisions and the unsettling atmosphere, with the PS5 version holding an average rating of 4.23 out of 5 from user feedback. The game supports full English and French localization and runs as a single-player title without additional modes or ongoing seasons. Those drawn to choose-your-own-adventure formats, moral dilemmas, and corporate satire will find the mechanics and story align closely with their preferences, while players seeking action or multiplayer elements may find the reading-focused design less engaging.
