Afterlife: The Game is not nearly as serious as it may sound. It is not a morose, epic game about the eternity that lies beyond our living plane. Afterlife: The Game is lighthearted and fun! There is a bit of sardonic humor sprinkled throughout, but Afterlife: The Game can be enjoyed by anyone.
Mini-Games Galore
You’re a ghost. Before you can enter the afterlife, you must complete a bunch of important tasks. How many? A dozen, to be exact. The tasks involve a wide range of interesting, challenging activities. Each task is actually a unique mini-game. As such, Afterlife: The Game feels like twelve titles in one package.
Avid players will be familiar with most of the mini-games. The first level is much like Flappy Bird. You press one button to fly higher, and then let your character glide down as far as you wish. The one-button control scheme is easy to get used to. Unfortunately, winning isn’t easy. There’s a host of barriers, such as twisted tree roots and creepy spiders. One wrong move will result in death. And your ghost doesn’t want to die (again).
Another familiar mini-game is called “Bust Out.” In this 2D adventure, you must navigate the ghost through a tricky platform puzzle. All the deadly tropes are here, from spinning blades to whizzing fireballs. And don’t forget about laser beams! Bust Out isn’t the most difficult level in Afterlife, but it’s one of the best.
Many of the mini-games are unconventional. In “Make ‘Em Laugh,” you will help the ghost tell jokes. Comedy can be difficult to deliver in games. Fortunately, Afterlife succeeds in this area. Here’s a joke directly from the game: “What’s the difference between a snowman and a snowwoman? Snowballs!” If you don’t find that genuinely humorous, you should have your funny bone examined.
Another less standard mini-game is called “Revenge.” During this round, you must figure out how to make the office worker angry. There are a lot of items on his desk, and you can interact with all of them. Perhaps you need to break a mug or dishevel a pile of papers. If that doesn’t do the trick, you can mess up Alan’s precious name plate. Alan did something wrong, and you’re supposed to deliver justice.
Maintaining Interest
Afterlife: The Game takes a new direction every time you advance. Thus, it remains interesting right from the start to the very end. This is refreshing, as many new games focus on one concept for too long. Afterlife isn’t repetitive, nor does it have a confusing control scheme. The latter is an important point, because a dozen mini-games potentially means a dozen different types of controls. Thankfully, the game developers must’ve given this issue much thought. You won’t have to spend a lot, if any, time learning which buttons to press and when. Everything is self-explanatory, and the overall gameplay shines.
Afterlife: The Game offers a different brand of single-player fun—short, interesting mini-games that deliver in every way.
