Kayjay's Shrine to Alter Ego

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Alter Ego is a mobile clicker game created by Japanese indie developers Caramel Column and released in 2018. The self titled "self discovery" game stars the player as The Wanderer. The Wanderer travels down an endless library to collect EGO by reading books and tapping on thought bubbles. This EGO is then exchanged for interactions with the character Es. Along the way, the player is also spoken to by Ego Rex who explains the mechanics of the game.

The game begins with a quote by Sigmund Freud. "Where id was, there ego shall be." This quote is an early indication of the game's source of inspiration being Freud's theory of the id, ego, and superego.

Freud's theory states that the psyche is divided into three different parts. The id is the impulsive part of the subconscious. The ego is the part of the subconscious that defers to social expectations and acts as a sort of conscience. The ego is the most conscious part of the psyche and represents the individual. It's the job of the ego to keep the id and superego in balance.

This is also the goal of the player in Alter Ego. By talking to Es, three different endings are possible depending on your interactions.