Afterparty sends Milo and Lola to Hell with a loophole: outdrink Satan and he’ll grant them re-entry to Earth. Night School Studio built the whole game around that joke, and for one long night it mostly holds.
Trailer, via Night School Studio.
A Conversation System That Actually Listens
Afterparty is an adventure game with a side-view perspective, developed and published by Night School Studio. It came out on PlayStation 4, PC, Mac and Xbox One in October 2019, and on Nintendo Switch in March 2020.
You play both Milo and Lola, lifelong friends and recent college graduates who wake up dead with no memory of how they got there. The engine of the thing is a conversation system that changes the story and your relationships with every decision. Uncover their personality quirks and foggy history as the night goes on.
Sister Mary Wormhorn and Sam the Cab Driver
Hell, as Afterparty draws it, is themed like a college town. That is the best idea in the game. Demons torture humans during work hours; both groups drink and party together at night.
Your Personal Demon is Sister Mary Wormhorn. Your way around is Sam, a psychopomp cab driver who explains the only exit: outdrink and out-party Satan himself. The underworld is an interconnected network of islands linked by the River Styx.
Thirty Libations and a Dance-Off
Milo and Lola need seals of approval from Satan’s brothers and sisters, the Monarchs of Hell. Apollyon, a judge of the Dead, makes them serve as lawyers for Roberto, a soul charged with serial murder. The pair can throw the trial per Apollyon’s wishes, or let Roberto ascend to heaven and challenge her afterward. Either way, Apollyon gives them her seal.
Asmodeus, the hard-partying Monarch, is trying to forget his ex, Beth. Reunite them or beat him in a dance-off. Over 30 libations are on offer, each one changing your dialogue choices and personality. Demonic activities include beer pong, dance-offs and chugging competitions.
An intelligent conversation system that allows you to change the story and your relationships based on every decision
The Night, Roughly
| Stop | What happens |
|---|---|
| Arrival | Milo and Lola wake in Hell, meet Sister Mary Wormhorn |
| The cab | Sam explains the outdrink-Satan loophole |
| Lucifer’s party | Satan demands seals from the Monarchs |
| Apollyon | The Roberto trial, or his ascent |
| Asmodeus | Beth, or the dance-off |
scntfc, and What the Cast Carries
The original soundtrack is by scntfc, the composer from Oxenfree. The cast is large and outrageous, each with their own set of problems.
The Apollyon sequence is the high point. It asks you to argue a murder case in a demons-only bar and then live with the answer. The dance-off against Asmodeus is thinner — a set piece that leans on the joke instead of the choice. That is this paper’s read, not a fact about the game.
Where the Drinking Contest Lands
The game has multiple endings, depending on Milo and Lola’s performance in the drinking game. The looseness that makes the middle so fun starts to cost it here. A night this shapeless does not resolve so much as stop.
Afterparty wants to be about friendship, damnation and one more round. It gets closest when it lets Milo and Lola be wrong about each other.
What the Score Says
Afterparty is a funny, well-built adventure that trusts conversation to carry it, and conversation mostly does. The college-town Hell is the sharpest thing in it. The drinking contest is the weakest, because a game about talking should not decide everything with a mini-game.
It scores 7.5/10, the published critic aggregate across seven outlets. That feels right. Night School Studio made something worth the night out, even if the last call is a letdown.
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