Outsider: After Life

About

Outsider: After Life is a single player action game. It was developed by Once A Bird and was released on July 13, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Outsider: After Life is a nostalgic puzzle adventure that takes you on a galactic journey with HUD-ini, an android who may be the only one who can prevent the end of the universe.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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80%

Audience ScoreBased on 15 reviews

graphics5 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

Engaging and emotional story with a unique existential sci-fi theme.
Beautiful and polished art style combined with a captivating, atmospheric soundtrack.
Varied and well-designed puzzles that blend seamlessly with the narrative and provide a generally relaxing experience.

The story becomes confusing and nonsensical towards the end, weakening the initial impact.
Puzzles are mostly simple and repetitive, with some being annoying due to multiple iterations and tedious tasks.
The PC version is overpriced compared to the mobile version, and lacks features like manual saving or windowed mode.

story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The story is generally seen as intriguing and emotionally engaging, especially with its innovative storytelling methods like continuous camera shots and narrative-driven puzzles. However, some find it becomes nonsensical or loses impact after the initial setup, suggesting the narrative might benefit from a longer gameplay duration or a different format. Overall, the story, combined with unique puzzles and atmosphere, makes for a compelling experience despite some pacing and coherence issues.
- “Outsider uses dynamic storytelling to deliver the surprisingly moving narrative visually, through narration and cutscenes and also through the gameplay itself.”
- “With its emotional, existential story, this is a mystery you’ll want to see through to the end.”
- “The game has a great range of puzzles all of which are framed within an intriguing story line.”
- “It seems somewhat interesting, but after you leave the planet you awaken on, the story gets nonsensical.”
- “In fact, it rapidly makes the initial part of the story irrelevant near the end and sort of just does its own thing.”
- “The story definitely seemed like it could have been quite interesting, but it probably needed a lot more than 2 hours worth of gameplay and/or a different, more story-friendly format.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game features a polished 2D art style with simple yet detailed graphics that beautifully depict its sci-fi world. Combined with well-executed animations and a captivating soundtrack, the visuals create a strong atmospheric and emotional experience that complements the narrative and puzzles seamlessly.
- “The game features a simple graphical art style that beautifully and effectively depicts the sci-fi world, creating an engaging atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is enhanced by well-done graphics, animations, and music, making the experience pretty cool.”
- “Outsider has a 2D art style that uses simple shapes to create detailed environments, contributing to the game's unique visual appeal.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The game's music is widely praised for its engaging and atmospheric quality, featuring a varied and evocative soundtrack that ranges from electronic and synth rock to melancholy piano tracks. It significantly enhances the sci-fi setting and immersion, often considered the standout aspect of the experience.
- “The beautifully varied soundtrack is one of the game’s standout features.”
- “Tracks range from simple electronic background music to evocative, ethereal, sci-fi synth rock and melancholy piano tracks.”
- “The music and artwork are at times breathtaking, truly creating an atmospheric and poignant experience.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
83%
17%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its engaging soundtrack, distinctive art style, and effective use of lighting and color contrasts, which together create an immersive and visually striking sci-fi environment. The combination of music, graphics, and animations contributes to a poignant and captivating experience that enhances the overall storytelling.
- “The game is about 2 to 3 hours long and puzzles were relatively easy, but the atmosphere and soundtrack were quite engaging. I found the simple graphical art style used to depict the sci-fi world beautiful and very well done.”
- “It mixes muted tones and dark colours with much more vibrant shades for a high contrast look that adds to the lighting and overall atmosphere.”
- “The music and artwork are at times breathtaking, truly creating an atmospheric and poignant experience.”
emotional
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers an engaging and unexpectedly emotional experience, combining a compelling existential story with challenging puzzles and a striking art style. Players appreciate the thoughtful themes and emotional depth that enhance the overall journey.
- “Great puzzles, great art style and unexpectedly emotional journey.”
- “This, alongside the themes and subject matter, make for an engaging and emotional experience.”
- “With its emotional, existential story, this is a mystery you’ll want to see through to the end.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The gameplay features a variety of unique puzzles integrated with dynamic storytelling, creating a moving narrative through visuals and narration. However, the experience feels short at around two hours and the hint system offers limited assistance beyond explaining puzzle mechanics. Overall, the gameplay is engaging but could benefit from extended playtime and improved hint support.
- “Outsider uses dynamic storytelling to deliver the surprisingly moving narrative visually, through narration and cutscenes and also through the gameplay itself.”
- “Great story and atmosphere, every puzzle mechanic is unique.”
- “The story definitely seemed like it could've been quite interesting, but it probably needed a lot more than 2 hours worth of gameplay and/or a different, more story-friendly format.”
- “There is a hint system, but this doesn’t always help, rather, just tells you how the mechanics of the puzzle work.”
- “Gameplay consists of solving dozens of small, varied puzzles.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The optimization is notably poor, with particularly bad voice implementation; however, the robot's performance, created using text-to-speech, stands out as the best aspect.
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Replayability is limited due to the game's short length, linear narrative, and single-solution puzzles, resulting in little incentive for multiple playthroughs.
- “After life can be completed within a few hours, and its linear narrative and single-solution puzzles don’t allow for much replayability. Considering the price on Steam, the game offers better value on mobile.”