Developed by Japanese indie game developer Menya Spice Tokyo Shiten, The Nakano Laboratory is an upcoming mystery text adventure with an intriguing twist. Currently in development for PC (Steam), the game is slated for launch in 2027.
The Nakano Laboratory is set aboard a large-scale ship known as the “Nakano Institute for Personality Transplantation,” where research is conducted on experimental technology that literally allows for an individual’s personality to be transplanted into another person’s body. After the mysterious disappearance of a researcher aboard the ship named Haruka Hoshihira, the protagonist, Kamome Mamiya – also working on the ship – must utilize this technology to possess the bodies of the other researchers on board and uncover the truth.
On top of the body-jumping, the story is also structured around a time loop mechanic. Each loop lasts 15-minutes in real time, and players will have to experiment by taking over different bodies to gather clues and gradually unravel the game’s mysteries. Depending on the player’s actions, there are multiple endings that they can arrive at, with the complete truth only coming into focus once players have explored all the branching paths the game has to offer.
The other researchers are far from stereotypical pencil pushers. Indeed, “mad scientists” would be a more apt description given their lack of ethical considerations in the course of their work, and as a result, every one of them is a potential suspect in Haruka’s disappearance. On the other hand, they all have alibis, which makes identifying a prime suspect from the outset impossible. Only by possessing all six of them and taking them down different paths across each fifteen-minute loop will Kamome, and by extension the player, be able to discover what happened to Haruka and who is responsible.
Despite the short length of each loop, the multitude of branching paths and endings bring the total playtime to an estimated five-to-six hours.
The Nakano Library is currently slated for a PC release sometime next year. Interested players can Wishlist the game on Steam.
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