Livber: Smoke and Mirrors

About Livber: Smoke and Mirrors

Livber: Smoke and Mirrors is a visual novel that leans into psychological horror. Developed by InEv Games and released on October 28, 2025, it follows a fractured narrative about a man returning to his old home after his estranged lover Lilith vanishes. Over three acts, the story unravels through fragmented memories, obsession, and surreal imagery. Set in a decaying house, it blends text-driven storytelling with eerie atmospherics. The game is available on PC, Linux, and Mac, catering to fans of cerebral, slow-burn tales. Expect minimal gameplay beyond dialogue choices and scene navigation, with heavy emphasis on narrative tension and ambiguous symbolism.

Gameplay

The game revolves around reading dense text, making occasional dialogue choices, and exploring a house through static scenes. Each act shifts the perspective between the protagonist and Lilith, with environmental details and cryptic letters offering context. Players can backtrack to revisit earlier scenes, uncovering hidden text and reinterpreting events. Controls are mouse-driven, with minimal interactivity beyond selecting dialogue options. The experience is nonlinear in structure but linear in progression, requiring players to piece together the story’s fragments. Audio design, creaking floors, distant whispers, amplifies unease, though combat or action mechanics are absent. Sessions typically last 10, 15 minutes per act, with total playtime around 2, 3 hours.

What Players Think

As a new release, community data is pending, but early reviews highlight polarized reactions. Critics praise its atmospheric tension and writing, with some calling it “a chilling experiment in fragmented storytelling.” Completion rates for similar visual novels hover around 60%, suggesting a risk of player drop-off. Average playtime for comparable titles is 4, 6 hours, though Livber’s brevity may appeal to those seeking a concise experience. No achievement data is available yet, and price details remain undisclosed. Mood analysis from early feedback leans toward “unsettling” and “ambiguous,” with some players frustrated by vague plot resolution.

PlayPile's Take

Livber: Smoke and Mirrors is best for fans of abstract horror and literary experimentation. Its lack of traditional gameplay may alienate casual players, but the dense narrative and haunting visuals offer a niche experience. If you appreciate games like Doki Doki Literature Club! or Oxenfree, this could resonate. At an expected price point under $20 (based on developer trends), it’s a low-risk purchase for those who enjoy dissecting cryptic stories. Achievements will likely be minimal, focusing on story completions. Not essential, but worth a try for its bold, if unsettling, approach to psychological storytelling.

Storyline

Lilith, whom you believed dead for years, calls to you with nothing but a letter, summoning you back to the old house, silent witness to your past. Inside the letter, there is only an address and a few haunting lines: "I will birth our creation in our home. Come, and crown us in the dark. You and I must always be one." And so, on a night drowned in rain, you return. Through the windows, candlelight flickers, proof that someone is inside. Lilith… or whatever remains of her. Within those walls, long-buried memories resurface: betrayal, passion, and wounds that never healed. Lilith has been waiting, not just for reunion, but to complete a dark plan set in motion years ago. And with every question you ask, you’re pulled further into a reality that no longer feels like your own.