Alone
A game does not need graphics to be good. A bold statement, I know, but there are so many examples that I thought it bore repeating, especially once I put in a screenshot of today’s game. There are many elements to a game, and while it’s nice when the game looks nice, it doesn’t have to. It can look very basic, and not detract at all from story, gameplay, or mechanics.
Please keep that in mind with these screenshots.
Ten points when you see the person.
Alone is a survival game where you play as a plane crash survivor, trapped in Siberia in winter. You struggle for survival, scavenging for food, warmth, and tools, while combatting the Siberian winter and dreaming of a way home. It’s a very simple game with a very simple interface and basic controls. You walk through the wilderness. You eat and sleep by your campfire. You struggle for survival.
And it is very good.
Me, my bear friend, and a snow storm
In my Ashwalkers review, I wrote extensively about what makes a survival game work. Without rehashing that review, I think it’s worth repeating what makes a survival game work. A survival game works when it provides an experience of being on the edge of destruction, but also provides a slim pathway for success. That experience of tension, of knowing your decisions have consequences, but not what those consequences could be, fuel the game and the player’s involvement with it. It’s where Ashwalkers fails, and where Alone absolutely succeeds.
In many ways, Alone is the anti-Ashwalkers. Where Ashwalkers’ resources are plenty, Alone has none. Where Ashwalkers has a giant complex backstory, Alone just has “you crashed, good luck.” Where Ashwalkers has beautiful graphics, Alone has pixel snowstorms. Above all, though, Alone has a compelling narrative of survival in a frozen hellscape and a sense that one wrong move sends it all crashing down. I found myself carefully thinking through every move, trying to figure out what to prioritise and what risks I could take.
Do I really need my toes?
Alone is a perfect example of a game that knows what it wants to be and succeeds at it. There are no frills, nothing fancy, just a raw survival experience. In many ways, the game is a perfect reflection of its genre - there is a thin line, and it walks it perfectly.
Developer: Killed Pixel Games
Genre: Survival
Year: 2018
Country: Finland
Language: English
Play Time: 2-3 Hours