Belgian Game Spotlight - The Almost Gone
Welcome to our fourth Belgian Game Spotlight! Last month, we had a look at the story exploration game, Ghost on the Shore. This month we'll be pointing & clicking our way through the narrative adventure, The Almost Gone by Happy Volcano.
The game has been in the works for many years and has lived through a few iterations, including a title change: back in 2016 it was known as "Winter" and even managed to snatch the award for "Best Mobile Game" at the 2016 Belgian Game Awards.
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In The Almost Gone, you awake (for lack of a better word - given your actual situation) in your bedroom and are seemingly trapped in your parent's house. As you progress from room to room, looking for objects that will help you get past doors and other forms of locks, you'll discover more about your father and mother. How he's an architect and loved taking you on camping trips, and how your mother was unhappy with the relationship and sought comfort in alcohol and pills.
Before we go further, it's perhaps best to let the trailer set the mood:
You'll probably have noticed the distinct visual style of the game: it uses mostly pastel colours and has an isometric perspective where you'll be looking into the world one room at a time from one of four possible angles. If you want to find all the clues and key items required to progress, you'll need to rotate the rooms and click on any points of interest.
You'll make your way through five distinct locations this way, each with more backstories to discover and puzzles to solve.
The story being told here is one with some dark twists and turns, so don't let the soft-coloured, approachable visuals deceive you: while the game doesn't have any horror or gore in it, the adult themes make it a game that is clearly not intended for a younger audience.
It's also worthy of note that none other than Joost Vandecasteele penned down the story for it. The developers and the writer found each other in 2015 and started working on the title as a team effort and the result is something to be proud of.
If this small taste of the game has given you an appetite for more, make sure to support the developers by purchasing it on Steam, Nintendo Switch or mobile (iOS or Android)
Check their site for all Store links
Want to keep up-to-date on any developments by this awesome indie game studio? Here are a few places you can follow them:
We hope you've enjoyed this feature article and if you're a Belgian game developer yourself, don't be afraid to reach out and maybe we'll spotlight your game next month!
