The Almost Gone

The Almost Gone is an occasionally enjoyable puzzle game, with a unique way of presenting levels. However, its high price and inability to adequately tackle heavy narrative themes leave it lost in the sea of mobile game ports.

73%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

grinding, replayability

74% User Score Based on 339 reviews

Critic Score 75%Based on 9 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $2.24

Buy NowGet on Steam$9.99

About

"The Almost Gone" is a narrative-driven puzzle game where players explore meticulously crafted dioramas to uncover the story of a life cut short. By revealing objects and memories, players piece together the poignant truths that led to their fate, in a contemporary tale written by award-winning author Joost Vandecasteele. With its immersive storytelling and atmospheric visuals, the game offers a hauntingly beautiful experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 348 reviews

story90 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

The art style is visually appealing and enhances the overall atmosphere of the game.
The puzzles are engaging and provide a satisfying challenge without being overly difficult.
The game explores heavy themes such as family dysfunction and mental health in a thoughtful manner.

The story feels incomplete and ends abruptly, leaving many questions unanswered.
Navigation can be frustrating due to the small size of rooms and lack of clear indicators for interactable objects.
Some achievements feel like unnecessary padding, requiring players to idle in the game for extended periods.

story
337 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
66%
7%
The story in "The Almost Gone" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it intriguing yet ultimately unsatisfying due to its abrupt ending and lack of clarity. While some appreciate the environmental storytelling and the exploration of heavy themes like trauma and family issues, others feel that the narrative is vague and disjointed, leaving them confused about the plot. Overall, the game offers a unique approach to storytelling through puzzles, but many players wished for a more cohesive and conclusive narrative experience.
- “The almost gone tells the story of a young girl floating between life and death, learning more about herself, her parents, and her family.”
- “The story unfolds through investigating the environment, so be sure to pay attention if you want to get answers.”
- “The details of the story can be easily missed, but a more observant and curious player will discover a beautiful and somber tale about life, death, and loneliness.”
- “I was interested in where the story was going before it abruptly ended in the final chapter; overall, it was too subtle for me to grasp, so I do feel like now I need to find an essay write-up explaining the plot.”
- “The story feels like it is lacking a bit, especially the ending.”
- “The main problem of this game is that the story (and its ending) fail to deliver a proper match for its tone, making this one simply a waste of time.”
graphics
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
47%
3%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful, minimalist art style and engaging aesthetic, often compared to titles like Monument Valley. Players appreciate the clean visuals and the way they complement the game's atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience despite some critiques regarding the story and gameplay mechanics. The combination of charming graphics and a haunting soundtrack creates a captivating yet unsettling mood, effectively reflecting the game's darker themes.
- “The art style alone is refreshingly crisp and well-suited for this type of point-and-click puzzle game.”
- “Visually, the game is stunning and the visuals are part of the story as well.”
- “Beautiful and simple graphics with a gorgeous color palette paired with an eerie mood perfectly describes the confusion we are supposed to be feeling as Emily searches through the remains of her hostile upbringing.”
- “Its three-dimensional rotation mechanic bears a resemblance to Monument Valley, yet it only scratches the surface; aside from the visuals, there are no other redeeming qualities.”
- “What looks like an introspective, creative puzzle game with endearing graphics turns out to be a half-baked blip lacking a lasting impact and charm.”
- “There's a deliberate low-detail high-contrast art style at work, and while I appreciate the dramatic effect and emotional suggestions - the living spaces being washed out and colorless, then suddenly being plunged into shadow - it makes the game very frustrating to play in places.”
gameplay
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
62%
5%
The gameplay is primarily a point-and-click experience that involves navigating isometric dioramas and solving intuitive puzzles, though many players find it lacks depth and innovation. While the art style is praised, the mechanics, including a rotation feature reminiscent of Monument Valley, are often underutilized and can lead to frustration due to clunky controls and unclear objectives. Overall, the game offers a short, straightforward experience that some enjoy for its aesthetic and narrative ties, but many feel it falls short in challenge and engagement.
- “The gameplay: you navigate a series of isometric dioramas, solving puzzles as you explore the protagonist's mental state and family history.”
- “The gameplay itself is nothing dreadfully innovative, but each chapter has its own interesting core puzzle gimmick that ties the entire level together, and it doesn't feel like it's roughly thrown together.”
- “Explores interesting themes through engaging gameplay and puzzles that are intuitive for the most part but do require you to pay attention to detail and every bit of text you get.”
- “The game features impressive art and imaginative concepts, but suffers from underutilized maps, subpar gameplay, fragmented storytelling, and anti-human achievements.”
- “On top of that, gameplay length is synthetically prolonged by maze-like levels and tediously searching for easy-to-miss items.”
- “While the puzzle mechanics were interesting and varied, it sucked that you couldn't zoom in (leaving it hard to find some clues) and the ending feels far too ambiguous - what should've been open-ended felt more like they didn't have a good way to wrap up the story, and you're ultimately left unsatisfied.”
music
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
57%
12%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players finding it either minimal or lacking in variety, often describing it as "meh" or "bare-bones." While some appreciate the atmospheric qualities and specific standout tracks, like in chapter three, others feel that the soundtrack detracts from the overall experience, becoming repetitive or irritating over time. Overall, the music is seen as a supporting element that can enhance the game's mood but fails to leave a lasting impression for many players.
- “The music was fine, though nothing to write home about, except the music in chapter three, which I absolutely loved.”
- “The atmosphere it creates with its visuals and music is perfect, and while the style of the game makes it pleasing to look at, the game is also effective at making the player feel varying degrees of discomfort.”
- “Interesting puzzles and a beautiful ambient soundtrack to complete the experience.”
- “The music is minimal and the sound effects are pleasant to listen to, too!”
- “To be blunt, the music lends to the atmosphere of the game but it is very unpleasant to listen to for any length of time.”
- “The soundtrack is also kind of annoying after a while.”
atmosphere
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
39%
10%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its effective creation of a mysterious and eerie environment, often bordering on horror, which enhances the overall experience. While the visuals and sound design contribute significantly to this unsettling ambiance, some players find the atmosphere too personal or heavy, potentially detracting from enjoyment. Overall, the game successfully immerses players in a dense, atmospheric world filled with tension and intrigue, despite some minor criticisms regarding audio and narrative clarity.
- “The developers did a great job creating a mysterious atmosphere that keeps you guessing what happened.”
- “The atmosphere it creates with its visuals and music is perfect, and while the style of the game makes it pleasing to look at, the game is also effective at making the player feel varying degrees of discomfort.”
- “Wonderful aesthetic, unnerving music/sound design, good puzzles, surreal atmosphere.”
- “It's a nice puzzle game, but be warned, the story and atmosphere is way darker than what the screenshots suggest it to be.”
- “The creators of the game did a great job in sustaining a tense and eerie atmosphere, although it was disappointing that the ending doesn't explain much about the story.”
- “The ambience of this game always left me with anxiety and just a creepy atmosphere.”
emotional
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is a mixed bag, with some players praising its ability to evoke feelings and create a personal connection through its narrative and character backstories. However, others criticize it for being emotionally exhausting, lacking depth, and failing to provide a satisfying resolution, which diminishes the impact of its serious themes. Overall, while the game has the potential for emotional engagement, its execution leaves some players feeling disconnected or frustrated.
- “I don't want to spoil too much, but for me it felt personal, and it actually made me feel things which becomes less obvious the older I get. Big kudos to the creators!”
- “An excellent game, and one I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for a narrative puzzle game with a lot of emotional depth.”
- “This game is very emotional and the backstories of Emily's parents are really heartbreaking, especially seeing what happens to her mother.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, with repetitive puzzles and excessive backtracking contributing to a prolonged gameplay experience. The maze-like levels and lengthy loading transitions further detract from the enjoyment, making the pursuit of 100% completion feel laborious. While some maintain a positive view overall, the grindy nature of certain sections can diminish engagement, especially towards the latter chapters.
- “On top of that, gameplay length is synthetically prolonged by maze-like levels and tediously searching for easy-to-miss items.”
- “I started out really involved in the story, but somewhere toward the end of chapter three or four, it just turned into a grindy puzzle game for me.”
- “Additionally, having 100% the game, I would say the animations and loading transitions become extremely tediously long to move between areas.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
50%
38%
Overall, the game has limited replayability, primarily due to its short duration of around two hours and a lack of engaging content for subsequent playthroughs. Players noted that achievements often require idling rather than active gameplay, further diminishing the incentive to replay. While some may return to complete achievements, the general consensus is that the game does not offer substantial replay value.
- “At least it's not one of those obnoxious 'play this 2-hour game without any replay value for 40 hours' achievements.”
- “The primary reasoning behind my choice is threefold: 1) the achievement that requires simply letting the game idle for thirty minutes in the opening room, 2) the achievement that requires simply letting the game idle for five hours, and 3) the achievement that requires replaying the game a second time when there is absolutely no replay value and the story isn't going to get any better on a second run.”
- “It's easy to complete in a few hours tops and has no replay value.”
- “I think the price on Steam is too high for the length of the game; you might play it through a second time to complete all achievements, but apart from that, there is not much replayability.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The optimization of the game has been criticized for being overly simplistic, as it relies heavily on the protagonist's monologues, which may leave players struggling to piece together the narrative effectively.
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
- “I found the game to be poorly optimized, resulting in long loading times and crashes.”
- “Despite the interesting concept, the optimization issues make it frustrating to play.”