Afterglow

How wonderful some abstract minds are; and very hard to understand. Afterglow is a game that seems to have been created by such a mind. It’s a first-person puzzle game that leaves you lost and confused in a strange house that holds you captive.

Simply put, it’s a beautiful indie puzzle game

Right off the bat, Afterglow is something that you don’t come across very often. Not only does it provide great puzzles but it also displays a unique look and atmosphere. There is a lot going on for Afterglow, and you can quickly pick up on that if you’re an indie game consumer.
First off, the distortion effect combined with the great choice of colors, and the grade A audio effects make it an instant success if you value the atmosphere of a game. And secondly, the puzzles; Frustratingly tough puzzles that annoy you even more after you figure out how easy some of them actually were. That happens from the very first one.

It’s all in the very small, very abstract details

After the first minutes of the game, when you’re done exploring what your can of the house, you get to work on the puzzles. What you have to do is pretty straightforward, enlarge a series of doors that open the path to new rooms of the house and maybe your escape; how you do that is a different story.
As the developer mentions, “look very closely and move very cautiously”, it’s invaluable advice and it’s the best you can get. But you also have to have a great memory, a keen sense of observation and abstract creativity. And you shouldn’t scare easily. Yep, the game has a creepy surprise for you, the kind that stalks and makes some of the eeriest sounds you’ve heard in a game.

Play this at night, and you either go to bed angry or totally relaxed

As far as first-person indie puzzle exploration games go, Afterglow deserves a small prize. Small because it’s very short, but that length is calculated in the time it would take you to fly past each puzzle. The first time around you’ll hopelessly wonder around for about one or two hours.