The Almost Gone 12+

Amazing game about generational trauma*

I highly, highly recommend this game. *Just a heads up, there are spoilers at the end of this review. People who liked “Gone Home,” and “Forever Lost” will love it. I played on my iPad and was glued to the story and gameplay all weekend. I read the reviews before I bought it, and I thought there was far more game for my dollar than I expected. It’s a good, solid length.
The story is dark, but as someone who loves the “Fran Bow,” series, a dark story is a plus. The ending, from my perspective, is very clear. The character tells us what’s happening throughout, especially at the beginning of each chapter. I, like many others, found navigation a bit of an issue, so that’s my one quibble.
TLDR: Great game. Buy it.

******************spoilers below********************

The End: The character is dying. He keeps saying he’s not hungry or thirsty, he can’t even conceive of what that’s like. You’ll notice at the start of each chapter it tells you how long “before.” The last chapter in the tree house was only seconds before. I believe it means before the character dies. The game is called “The Almost Gone.” At the end of the game, the character is dead/gone.
So the gameplay represents those few moments before death. The character, who seems pretty wounded/upset about his parents and his childhood, learns in those moments about what his own parents went through and maybe why they acted the way they did.

Inventory Puzzle, Interesting story, some bugs on ipad

The puzzle is played out more through the story than it is through gameplay… likely would have gotten similar experience in less time by just watching the walk through. End occurred too rapidly to feel satisfying. Aesthetics look like Monument Valley… but has very little of the grace and actual puzzle of that brilliant game. Likely would have rated this higher if I hadn’t thought it was going to be like MV. Interesting story that unfolds… quite spooky in places, clever in others…both were fun. Worth the time for .99 USD, but I’m not fond of inventory puzzles so, had I know that’s what this was, I probably wouldn’t have gotten it.

Had difficulty playing on my iPad as interactive circles were too close to navigation map and settings hamburger menu. I would click the circle to interact with an item but open the map instead… got a weird glitch in the inventory that would show two of the same item at the same time. Bugs frustrating enough that I ended up switching to my phone mid game and had to start again (tho easier 2nd time as I already new the codes to jump ahead).

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your feedback, it has been passed on to the team!

Most excellent

If the minds behind “The Room”, got together in a party with the Developers behind “Monument Valley” and started chatting the the twisted minds behind “Rusty Lake” and wanted to do a game that evoked the sentiment behind “Life Is Strange” then… well I guess that’s what happened here.

A most excellent puzzler - a dark story where you, as the lead character - seem to be on quest to understand the psychosis behind their parents (probable) death.

Kids won’t get this detail, adults however who understand how they inherit their parents problems probably will. The subject matter is dark - suicide is strongly implied as behind at least one death, as is drugs, alcohol and infidelity.

As such this game is pretty raw.

That said, it was deeply thought provoking. I, for one, was extremely impressed with the depth of the story telling. The imagery and settings were extremely well done.

Bravo to the developers.

If you’re into pondering how part A connects to scene 3 then this is your game. No action here though - your brain does all the hard work and you can otherwise take your time over the game. Which, for me, is exactly how I like my games.