It’s the spookiest month of the year, and what better way to celebrate than with the macabre point-and-click adventure, Allogloom? Allogloom drops you into Gruesome Grove — a town where no one is allowed to leave, else you risk being eaten by the Golden Moths that the townsfolk revere.
You play as Nora, whose mother has disappeared mysteriously. On the anniversary of her disappearance, things take a turn for the considerably worse when vile monsters descend on the town, abducting everyone — including Nora’s family.
Now, Nora must uncover what happened to her loved ones while getting to the bottom of Gruesome Grove’s many, many mysteries. This NZ-made debut from solo developer Galactic Ghosty had me hooked from ‘Allo (sorry), delivering a charmingly creepy little adventure that’s perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit.
It Drew Me In, Literally
Firstly, Allogloom is visually stunning.
Its vivid illustrations bring Gruesome Grove’s gothic world to life, with an Art Nouveau-inspired style that gives everything a wonderfully distinctive look. I particularly loved the little animations sprinkled throughout the menus and chapter titles, which added even more personality to an already charming presentation.
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There are no options to change the resolution or switch to Windowed mode, although neither affected my playthrough. I would’ve loved to see Allogloom in all its glory across my curved monitor, though. Heck, I’d happily slap some of its artwork on my desktop wallpaper.
A+ For Originality
While the artwork initially caught my attention, it was Allogloom’s wonderfully strange story that kept me playing. The world Galactic Ghosty has created is seriously intriguing. It reminded me of Clair Obscur — a story so original, it captivated me from start to finish. Allogloom kept me guessing — I might still be scratching my head a little and need another playthrough.
The point-and-click mechanics are straightforward, but the puzzles gradually ramp up in difficulty as you progress. There’s no particularly nasty learning curve, although some of the later puzzles require you to actually engage the old brain cells and, crucially, pay attention.
I was so determined to solve every puzzle and uncover the story that I absolutely blitzed through the game in around five hours. By the time the credits rolled, I was left with that dreaded “wait, that’s it?” feeling.
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I also couldn’t load individual chapters during my playthrough, despite the option appearing in the menu. Hopefully, that’s just a pre-release hiccup, as I’d love to go back for another playthrough and see what I missed.
Short And Sweet
Fans of Strange Antiquities and puzzle adventures should definitely give Allogloom a whirl. It’s gorgeous, delightfully weird and just the right amount of creepy, making it a lovely little addition to your Halloween gaming list.
Just don’t leave Gruesome Grove.
The moths are hungry.
Quest Daily scores Allogloom:
8.5/10
Allogloom is coming to PC on October 14th.
A copy of Allogloom was supplied to Quest Daily for this review.
