They're alive? | The Friends We Left Behind AND Imaginary Friend Asylum Explained (Summary & Theory)

Trigger Warning: brief mention of su!c!dal ideation of a child, child @buse/trauma, depictions of blood, needles.
Explore the story of the Imaginary Friend Asylum and The Friends We Left Behind. We're digging into the intriguing designs of the imaginary friends, uncovering what happened to Annabelle, considering the possibilities of where the missing children are, learning about transorbital lobotomies, and more.
The Imaginary Friend Asylum is a psychological horror game set in 1949 where you play as 8-year-old Anthony Rivers whose parents have left him at the Hathmoore Children's Asylum. Curiously, he can see all the imaginary friends within the asylum, though he doesn't have one of his own. One particular imaginary being doesn't seem to be so friendly, however. And to top it off, the doctors have started taking an interest in you, and you find yourself becoming a human guinea pig for their experiments. Also, what's going on with Annabelle?
If you enjoyed the IFA demo and want to see more from this developer, please consider wish listing the game on Steam to help support them!
Fast forward 28 years later, and seven children from the asylum were reported missing back in 1949. You play as an investigator in this point-and-click horror game with escape room situations. The imaginary friends are still there, but they're not imaginary anymore and they're quite lonely. Survive the asylum and learn more about the dark secrets within.
🖤 Time Stamps 🖤
Intro: 00:00
IFA Story: 00:40
TFWLB Story: 11:32
Unmasking the Detective: 17:58
The Lobotomy Candidates: 18:53
Pixie and Dolly's Friends: 19:09
Imaginary Friends Design Theory: 19:46
The Ghost of The Asylum Theory: 23:00
The "Successful" Lobotomy Theory: 25:07
Where are the children? Location Theory: 28:30
Outro: 31:36
🖤 Official Discord Server 🖤
I highly encourage those who are interested in the lore and theories behind these games to join The Friends We Left Behind official discord server: / discord
🖤 Follow the Developer 🖤
/ @grantmarrs
🖤 Play the games 🖤
(IFA demo): grantmarrs.itch.io/imaginary-...
(TFWLB): store.steampowered.com/app/24...
🖤 Random Thought 🖤
What if the children are imaginary now? 👀

[@GrantMarrs]

Amazing video!! These are some of the closest theories I've heard yet, and you did such a great job with all the editing too! :D

[@MoFace]

Thank you so much! Your games are really inspiring and I can’t wait to learn more about the world and story you’ve built!

[@benm1825]

Wow never thought the actual creator would comment but here we are, congrats

[@MoFace]

@@benm1825 Thank you! He's really nice and pretty active in his community's discord server for the games!

[@OsirisTheRaptor]

*Holy shit*

[@amberjackson4882]

Since we know for a fact Pooky at least used to look different it's safe to assume most if not all of the imaginary friends had different appearances, which would be likely considering asylums at the time were hellish at worst for those who lived in them. In the full game of Imaginary Friends Asylum I hope we can find maybe collectables or something like that which shows what the friends looked like before, or have the friends be their original forms in the beginning of the game and have them slowly become the characters we go up against in The Friends we Left Behind.

[@MoFace]

I'd love to see that! I wonder if Pooky used to look like some sort of doll or stuffed animal since his pants are partially inspired by Mickey Mouse?

[@Zymurgyzerat]

Sometimes, I wish this game had an actual fanbase (so that's why I'm gathering people in a game called Pony town)

[@MoFace]

It does~ The game's community discord has some pretty nice people in it that enjoy the game

[@mossyboii-.-]

Yeah me too :(

[@senaruryuin2773]

Gotta love long deep dive videos like this one! I've come to really appreciate longer vids in general, especially being an artist. I can make a watch list and just have it roll while I'm working, so thanks for making vids on interesting topics!

[@MoFace]

So glad you like the content and the length! I wanted to make videos that talk about spookier topics but in a calmer, chill manner. So cool that you're an artist!

[@MegaMegajennifer]

i have a couple of playlists. 1 is of my favorite spooky songs and 1 is of my favorite shorts from deadbedspread from when he tried to make a fakemon for every day of the year

[@TechnoMeteor]

Great video! I've always wanted to see more horror video game stories that delve into the psyche of a traumatized child's imagination. So much potential and this game does it beautifully. 💯

[@MoFace]

Yasss 100% agree! I'm really looking forward to the full release of IFA!

[@serenitymiralador]

your voice is incredibly calming, this is my very first video from you, and you have earned a subscriber always good to see more content about GrantMarrs works :D

[@MoFace]

Thank you so much! And glad you enjoy the games and the developer too!! 🖤

[@senaruryuin2773]

11:30 has me curious- Injecting water into your veins directly I've heard is usually pretty bad to do isn't it? I might be completely wrong but I'm fairly sure I recall it being lethal

[@MoFace]

Ooo you make a good point! I looked online a bit and it seems like the effects are serious/lethal, and I'm wondering if that's with any amount of water in the bloodstream or a certain amount. Borris is our resident baddie, so maybe his suggestion was intentional?

[@Mr.Nobody10000]

Intravenous fluids for hydration is standard. Saline, electrolytes and others are all water based.

[@MegaMegajennifer]

this sorta reminds me of an idea i kinda have for a persona game like story. the main character is sent to his uncle's house cause the mc is gay, his parents are homophobic and his mom's brother used to work in a correctional facility, so they were hoping he would beat some sense into him like he used to do with patients. but it turns out the reason why he quit his job was cause he fell in love with a man he met there who went there by choice cause he got his heart broken by a man he dated before him till he decided to switch over to girls, so theres nothing to fear, but the mc's uncle begs him not to tell his parents the truth. later at the school in the town the main character is visiting he makes some new friends, including a boy who appears to be a typical, blonde, misunderstood delinquent. later after that the group runs into some trouble that makes them have to use their imaginary friends like personas, but the mc and the blonde delinquent cant do that. it appears that neither of the 2 even have imaginary friends. but eventually when 5h 1t is about to really hit the fan something strange happens to the delinquent. parts of his body changes and he has his own super powers, so despite the confusion, he helps defeat the monsters. after thats over everybody tries to find the delinquent's grandmother so they can figure out what happened in peace and maybe find some answers from her. but when they find who he believes to be his grandmother, she doesnt recognize him. hes concerned that she might have suddenly gone senile, so he looks around for anything to prove that they know each other. but there isnt even anything he would own around and when he thinks about it hes not sure if he had anything of his own there in the first place, or where they live. hes slowly starting to panic. the group decides to go to the mc's uncle's house cause altho he mostly dealt with homosexuals and bisexuals, he still had some knowledge about psychology and mental health in general. after the mc's uncle examines him and asks everybody some questions he comes to the conclusion that hes actually an imaginary friend. more specifically the mc's imaginary friend. the imaginary delinquent is having an existential crisis over the news and no where to go. the uncle and his boyfriend take pity on the poor imaginary boy and let him stay with them for the time being which will be awkward cause the mc's imaginary friend is actually the embodiment of the mc's ideal boyfriend after a long time of reading bl manga. thats all the details i could think of. havent thought of what the friends, monsters, or main antagonist are like

[@DiscoTimelordASD]

I have no ideas at all. You have done an amazing job here. Thank you.

[@MoFace]

Thank you!

[@eclipsemoonishere]

WAIT I HAVE A THEORY ADDING ONTO THIS AS TO WHY ANTHONY DOESNT HAVE AN IMAGINARY FRIEND [which might be a bit off but eeeh it's a good attempt in my opinion]: it's mentioned that Anthony wouldn't be surprised if his parents were purposely not replying to his letters. "I don't know if they were ignoring my letters or if the nurses withheld personal mail from patients neither situation would surprise me in the least." maybe his trauma is his parents neglecting him? maybe they never wanted him, its why he has NO imaginary friend, because his trauma is being neglected by his parents, like maybe the imaginary friend isn't there because his parents weren't there for him? I hope I explained that in a sense that makes sense :P Edit: made it easier to read [like I made it not a wall of text]

[@MoFace]

Oooo I love this idea! If imaginary friends reflect a child's trauma, then the absence of a friend could reflect how absent his parents were in his life. Very cool theory for sure!

[@eclipsemoonishere]

@@MoFace thank you :D

[@Thislittleperson1]

​​​@@eclipsemoonisherewhat about hollow his imaginary friend?

[@eclipsemoonishere]

@@Thislittleperson1 this was like 4 months ago when we didnt know he had one-

[@Thislittleperson1]

@@eclipsemoonishere oh alr

[@Dreamsarefortheweak]

I LOVE THIS IM NOW A VERY VERBAL AND HAPPY FAN *SCREAMS AND STARTS STIMMING*

[@catplayz1147]

Imagery friend asylum is unrated this whole game series is unrated

[@MegaMegajennifer]

you mean underrated?