Identity V

Review by eFreeware

If you like the idea of a horror match where the sides are lopsided on purpose, Identity V is built for exactly that. Four players take the survivor role and one takes the hunter, and the whole round plays out around that imbalance. It has been on Google Play since July 2018 and has passed 10 million installs, so it is not a new experiment.

The appeal is the tension that comes from unequal numbers. As a survivor you are not trying to win a fair fight; you are trying to stay out of sight, work with the people around you and get out. As the hunter you are the pressure everyone else is reacting to. That structure is the reason to install it, and it is also the reason the game asks for patience, because each side plays very differently.

A gothic manor with a shifting layout

The look is deliberately old-fashioned. The developer places the action in the Victorian era, and the art leans into that period rather than a modern or futuristic setting. For a horror game on a phone, that choice gives it a mood you can recognize from the first screen.

A letter about a missing girl and a deserted manor draws a detective into the story. As that investigation moves forward, the developer says the truth turns out to be something horrifying.

What I find more interesting is that the map changes from match to match. The developer describes the layout as altered within every new game, so the space you learned last time is not the space you get next time. That keeps route planning from becoming pure memory and forces survivors to read their surroundings again and again.

Four survivors, one escape route

On the survivor side, the job is a mix of running and cooperation. Working as a team, you crack the cipher machines, then escape through the gate. None of that happens quickly, and the hunter is working against you the whole time, so the round is really about managing where you are and what you are doing while someone else is looking for you.

That makes communication and timing matter more than reflexes alone. Four people have to commit to objectives while staying mobile, and the game is at its most interesting when the group has to decide whether to keep working or break away. I would expect players who enjoy coordinated team play to get the most out of this half of the game.

Playing the hunter

The other role is a solo one. The hunter's task is to learn the available powers and use them to catch and hold onto the prey, in the developer's wording. The round depends on how well you use what the character can do and how you read the survivors' movements.

This is the side of the game that rewards familiarity with a specific character rather than general teamwork. It also means the hunter experience is a different kind of pressure from the survivor experience, and switching between them is not a small adjustment.

Characters you tune to your own plan

The roster is meant to be played with, not just collected. The developer describes multiple characters to choose from, with customization that fits your personal strategy. In practice that means the character you pick shapes how you approach a match, whether you are trying to escape or trying to stop someone else from doing so.

That variety is what keeps a match-based game from feeling like the same round repeated. Different characters, plus maps that change between games, give you a reason to rethink your approach rather than settle into one routine.

Free to start, with purchases inside

Identity V costs nothing to download, and there are no ads. The developer does include optional in-game purchases, and notes that some of those purchases contain randomized virtual items.

The install base is large, with more than 10 million downloads, and the average rating sits at 2.7 from 807,195 ratings. That combination is worth noticing: a lot of people have tried it, and the score suggests the experience does not land for everyone. The game also carries a Teen content rating, which fits the horror premise.

The most recent update, from September 8, 2026, addresses compatibility issues. It is a maintenance change rather than a content one.

Who this fits

This is a game for people who want a horror match with an uneven playing field and are willing to learn two very different roles. If you enjoy team objectives under pressure, the survivor side gives you that. If you prefer to be the threat rather than the target, the hunter side is there for you.

It also suits players who like a gothic atmosphere and do not mind that the setting is stylized rather than realistic. The Victorian framing and the manor mystery give the matches a consistent tone, and the shifting maps keep the environment from becoming background noise.

What it asks in return is patience with the structure. Matches are built around objectives and other players, not around a short solo session, and the free-to-play model includes optional purchases with randomized items. If that model is not one you want in a game, that is a fair reason to think twice before committing time to it.

A team horror game worth trying if the roles appeal

Identity V has a clear identity: a free, ad-free 1v4 horror game with gothic art, a manor mystery, characters you customize around your own strategy and maps that change between matches. Those pieces fit together, and the survivor-and-hunter split gives the game two distinct ways to play rather than one.

The caveats are honest ones. The 2.7 average from a very large number of ratings says plenty of players have not been won over, and the optional purchases include randomized items, which is a model some people avoid on principle.

I would point this at players who want cooperative horror with a team objective and are comfortable with a free-to-play structure that includes optional spending. If you are looking for a solo horror experience or a game you can finish in a few sittings, the match-based design and the two-role split may not be what you are after.

What's new in version 2026.0908.1552

- Fixed some compatibility issues.