The Almost Gone

The Almost Gone is an adventure puzzle game that tells the story of a girl trapped between life and death in order to understand the reasons that led her to this situation. The game was created by a small Belgian studio, Happy Volcano, which received many independent awards.

Plot

The Almost Gone focuses on the story of a young girl suspended between the worlds of the living and the dead. Her job is to recreate the events that led her to this place. To this end, we visit significant places from our past and look for clues that will lead us to the truth.

Mechanics

The Almost Gone is a story told in five chapters, whose narrative does not tell us directly what happened, and through the gradual acquisition of fragments of memories allows us to put them together ourselves.

The gameplay focuses on exploring various three-dimensional dioramas full of meanings and clues from the past. At any time in any of the visited locations, we can rotate the camera to make it easier for us to see things invisible from other perspectives and interact with them. These are often associated with the solution of mini puzzles, which is rewarded with a small fragment that brings us closer to understanding the whole.

The locations in the game are the places that were somehow important in the life of the heroine. That is why we will visit her house, tree house, courtyard, school, often visited street, but also many others. Each location, although small, is rich in details.

Technical aspects

At first glance, The Almost Gone's visual setting is reminiscent of games created for mobile apps, which in this case is not far from the truth, because the game has come out on this device. The style used in the game is both minimalistic and detailed.

The story is told by Joost Vandecasteele. In turn, Yves De Mey, known for his soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film Rundskop, is behind the music that emphasizes the atmosphere of the game.