Welcome to The Afterlight, where death is on-boarding and your unfinished business is contractually obligated. In the space between this world and the next is The Afterlight, inhabited by echos of humanity - and the source of R.I.P Co’s most valuable product: spirit oil. But the supply line has been interrupted. The beacon through which echos are condensed for harvesting has gone out, and you’re the half-dead schmuck we hired to fix it. For a chance to live again, slip by unseen, put some ghosts to rest, and change that bulb - or it’ll be lights out for good.

The Afterlife is a compact action adventure immersive sim based on opt-In gameplay, inspired by modding culture and the Looking Glass design philosophy. The primary systems of progress are through exploration and combat. Players may avoid or face enemies as they traverse a series of levels with multiple paths, earning rewards matched with the systems the player engages (i.e. expanding the ammo pool for engaging in combat). This seeks to satisfy challenge desires in real time while minimizing perceived “right way to play” pressure, offering a system that responds to player desire rather than performance and facilitates player expression through systems.

The work is meant to be a short “torchlit maze” dungeon crawler game, combined with some light puzzle and enemy dodging elements. A combination of the dark, a limited health bar, and multiple levels, the game proves frustrating and challenging.