Forlorn is a memorable, short adventure game, currently at only a demo’s length, but it’s still totally worth your time if you enjoy atmospheric worldbuilding.
A 2D adventure game that bursts into life with you – a mysterious being – smashing your way out of a glass vessel of some time, Forlorn steers completely free of written or spoken narrative, instead dropping you into a tattered world with few clues to what has happened and even who you are. Its world is dangerous and stunning – a cement shoreside city that’s being reclaimed by nature, with bursts of plant-life clinging to the buildings and inevitably on course to tear them down.
It’s not just the environment (which does shift during the time of the demo) that’s notable, though. Developer Douwe113 tinkers with perspective, with the first few scenes using small cut-aways of the screen, giving a deep, eerie, and alien vibe to the already-strange setting. The character is clearly as lost and confused as we’re meant to feel, and that’s never cleared up, even after you get your first set of instructions from a wounded militia person.
Strangely, the human that you meet – and the remains of one you find – are much larger than your caped character, as are the electronic drones that hunt you down through each of the levels. It’s only a short demo, likely taking less than five minutes for most people to clear through, so there are understandably going to be lots of questions left unanswered. The whole thing has a very deliberate, well-paced feel to it that made me cry out for more once it finished. In fact, it finishes on a tense high as you find yourself trapped with another strange mechanical creature floating towards you, blasting deadly light.
Short and memorable, if you’ve five minutes and fancy a little 2D platforming adventure then I highly recommend giving Forlorn‘s build a download.
Forlorn is currently in development, but in the meantime, you can grab a beta demo from itch.io.
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