After School Afterlife

This game is [b]exactly what indie gaming is all about[/b]. It's a completely unique passion project where they absolutely nailed a fresh mix of exploration, comedy, platforming, and minigames. Sure it has its quirks, but you can just [b]feel[/b] the heart poured into it. I was smiling for pretty much my entire playthrough. The feeling brings back to the days of getting home from school, trying random flash games, and then finding an absolute gem unlike anything I had ever played before. [i] Full disclosure: I know the devs and was involved in a very early version of this project. That being said, the final game blew me away regardless of any prior connection I had to it. So please trust my praise here as real. [/i] [h3] Content [/h3] I'd love to list off every moment of the game that stood out to me but that would (1) make the review endless and (2) spoil like 90% of the fun. It's the kind of game you really just have to experience for yourself. So here goes my best attempt at a spoiler-free review. The game has tons of details and, for the price, a really respectable amount of content. For completionists, there are tons of things to discover and little details to interact with. Just keep in mind that there is some missable content. If you rush through the game it could be relatively short, but thank goodness for that, because I started playing on a weeknight and couldn't put it down until I finished. This is the perfect sized game to pick up for a chill weekend and then revisit later to find all the bits you missed. [h3] Gameplay [/h3] The gameplay loop strikes a great balance. There's never a dull moment: you're never going to expect what's up next, and it's always a [b]delight[/b]. There's so much variety, yet no mechanic ever feels overused which is something I really miss in today's gaming scene where every title seems to try to squeeze as much time and engagement out of you as possible. I understand player skill varies a lot when it comes to rhythm mechanics, but at least for me the difficulty level was very well balanced. It's worth noting that there are plenty of (canon) accessibility features, so you're probably never going to get really stuck, even if you have a hard time with platformers or rhythm games. In fact getting stuck could [spoiler] end up being even more interesting than getting it on the first try... [/spoiler] [h3] Audio & Visuals [/h3] Visually, the game is incredibly colorful, detailed, and textured. Some of the scenes are so beautiful they could be standalone paintings. The world feels alive (or I guess, "dead"? because afterlife lol) because of the sheer amount of personality every single sprite has and the small details (like one-off animations) that bring it all together. You can't have rhythm minigames without music, and there are some absolute BANGERS here. A few of them are still stuck in my head [i]days[/i] after finishing the game. The SFX are also designed in a way to help you sync up with the platforming (both in time and space), which is a really nice touch. [h3] World & Writing [/h3] Like other great games in this space, the writing is what ties it all together. Not many games make me [b]audibly laugh out loud[/b], but this one did. There's plenty of situational humor, random comedy bits, and unexpected interactions that make the moments (and characters) between plot points and minigames so memorable. Some of it is also surprisingly deep and relatable. The cultural aspect of the game is so much more than just a theme or a skin like you might see in more commercialized games. The characters, lore, music, art, writing and really every aspect of the game are deep, rich, and clearly [b]deeply personal[/b] to the developers. If you find the world interesting, definitely check out the artbook. And I highly recommend not skipping the Jotter book entries: I ended up learning things I might never have been exposed to otherwise, while also having a lot of fun. [hr][/hr] So yeah. If any of this resonates with you, try it out.

I absolutely adore this game. I was interested in it from prerelease trailers, and I ended up enjoying it even more than I thought I would. Delightful little adventure game with fun rhythm platforming puzzles, lovely art, really cool supernatural elements, great music, and extremely charming writing. Occasionally the humor dips into internet-joke-territory, but I honestly didn't mind at all even though that's usually something that irks me? There's even an entire sidequest sequence that does a bit of an overplayed reference to a famous other adventure game but I just clapped my hands. Game just thoroughly won me over and I was loving every part of it. I even ended up looking at achievement thinking "I'll 100% this game!" which is something I really don't do nowadays. Turns out I missed an NPC in my initial playthrough, and also I can't figure out how to reach Noodles again? But I just thought "I'll just replay the game!" and I never replay games so soon after initially finishing them nowadays. I just want to play this game more and I want more of it. Telling all of my friends to play it. Telling you the reader to play it.

Love it so far! Super cute sound & visuals, charming characters.

Super fun game! The music is so catchy, and the art is adorable - and sometimes creepy! A fun plot with funny characters, and lots of little easter eggs to find.

highly recommend, lovely lil game, very fun & had sum very funny moments. 𐔌՞. .՞𐦯

Lovely game. Beautiful pixel art, fun exploration, charming characters and dialogues, great humor and interesting insights about Peranakan culture.

I know it's still March but this is honestly going to be my GOTY, it'll stick with me for a long time. It's extremely cute, funny, charming, fun, and surprisingly real, I'm 30 years old now but seeing this 11 year ramble in her journal on and on about her anxieties really hit home and was a pretty accurate to how I felt when I was a kid. Anyways, the game is a charming platformer where you go do some rhythm platforming and have some little puzzle fetch quests along the way, I saw the devs mention Ham Ham Heartbreak as an inspiration (unironically, even though I was likely already going to get it, seeing that turned it into an immediate buy for me lmao) and the inspiration is pretty clear, in between the platforming parts you're basically just collecting your ham hams for the finale. Along the way you'll find see some beautiful background art, listen to some delightful songs, learn about Peranakan culture, and see some silly (positive) dialgoue. [spoiler]and finally struggle to solve standardized test questions for children[/spoiler] Yeah, this is GOTY material

An amazing little game, has an impressive amount of details and small little things to see.

Very fun and cute game that combines malaysian/singaporean culture into a fun indie platformer. I did encounter one bug after the fishing minigame that froze the game but other than that very pleased! You can tell this was a labor of love. The kaya toast minigame was my favorite, very clever.

A wonderful game that is hard to fully describe. A labour of love from the devs who set out to make exactly the game they wanted. On the surface, it's a rhythm platformer game - The platforming can be challenging, but I appreciate that the devs put in multiple safeguards if you are having trouble completing it (some sections will become easier if you fail too many times) - The boss fights are very cleverly designed. I especially loved the first boss. - Following the rhythm is a core concept of the game, and the music is written in such a way that it's easy to keep track of. The real meat of the game is in the exploration of this strange world. - It's such a Singaporean game at heart. You play a primary schoolgirl about to do her PSLEs, who gets trapped in a haunted house after her mock exam gets stolen by a ghostly rabbit! - there are many elements of Singapore's past in the game which made me very nostalgic to play this - The NPCs have plenty of well written dialogue. There is a very sharp sense of humour throughout the game, and I laughed out loud at a few moments. - The art, animations, and backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous to look at. The House is a colourful, whimsical world that feels full of life. - I'm going to mention it again because the music is just so good and fun to listen to The game chock full of references to multiple genres and inspirations, but it's combines them in a truly unique way. The other reviewers are very much on point when saying it's very much inspired by Spirited Away and Alice in Wonderland. Other references you may recognise include ones to Chinese mythology, Singaporean culture, and more contemporary ones like Phoenix Wright or Undertale (it references Undertale by being a good game) Despite being able to be finished in two to three hours, the game is so rich in details. You can easily spend another three to four hours exploring every dialogue tree. There are a surprising amount of minigames and hidden secrets throughout the game which are very easy to miss but satisfying to discover. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who has an interest in supernatural stories or Singapore.