The Almost Gone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- WW: 15 June 2020
iOS, Macintosh, Windows, Switch
- WW: 25 June 2020
| The Almost Gone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Happy Volcano |
| Publisher | Playdigious |
| Platforms | |
| Release | Android
iOS, Macintosh, Windows, Switch
|
| Genre | Puzzle |
The Almost Gone is a 2020 video game created by independent developer Happy Volcano and published by Playdigious. The game is a puzzle game in which the player investigates and rotates three-dimensional rooms to uncover the story of Emily, a girl who has recently died, and unearth the secrets of her family. Upon release, the game received mixed to average reviews, with critics praising the game's visual presentation and exploration of serious themes, whilst critiquing the execution of its narrative and aspects of its gameplay. During development and release, The Almost Gone received several accolades from European independent game events, including awards for 'Game of the Year' at the 2021 Flanders DC Belgian Game Awards.
The Almost Gone is a puzzle game with room escape elements in which the player navigates five stages of three-dimensional dioramas of rooms to locate items of interest and solve puzzles. The player can rotate the room in all directions to see behind objects and corners of the space, and can enter other rooms using doors or directional arrows.[1] Items can be combined and accessed using an inventory, with objects of interest, once acquired, highlighted at the side of the screen, with some providing additional background text.[2] The game also features a map to show the player the current perspective and relationship between rooms.[3]
Plot
The player follows Emily, a girl who has recently died, through a state of purgatory as she revisits places and events significant to her life. As the player pieces together connections from the locations across Emily's house and neighborhood, darker secrets about Emily's life family become unearthed, revealing themes of "addiction, abuse, neglect and murder".[4]
Development
The Almost Gone was developed by Happy Volcano, a Belgian independent studio founded by developer Peter Maasen, designer Jeroen Janssen, and art director David Prinsmel,[5] featuring text by writer Joost Vandecasteele.[2] The development team aimed to create a puzzle game that was integrated with a more mature, dark narrative around the theme of life and death. The narrative was left ambiguous as a "Lynchian experience" to encourage players to develop their own thoughts and theories about the game.[6]
