Reader reviews for Almost My Floor

In fact I think calling Almost My Floor a “horror game” is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s surrealistic, maybe even lovecraftian, but it hardly ever takes itself seriously. It starts as a pure comedy about some loser who desperately tries to get into his flat in a filthy apartment which suddenly turns into a monster house filled with evil eyes, tentacles, green goo and other oh-so-creepy cliches that might even attack the hero, but more often they just gaze at him from walls. What follows is your classical “dreams vs. reality” case (consult Father Ted) where we see the world through those dreamy eyes and try to understand what’s real and what’s not and get away alive if possible. Or at least try and do something about the situation while learning the story behind the house and its inhabitants in the process. Another playable character - a very nice and sober PI - also helps to shed some light.

It should be said that the story, while nothing special, is still pretty decent for a 3 hour game. It’s no The Cat Lady, that’s for sure (despite I felt familiar vibes), but the way we gather information from scattered pieces was nicely done. I also enjoyed the silliness (in a good, self-aware way) of many of those visions that prevented the game from becoming stressful or depressing. Alex fights spider coffee mugs and toothy plants, confronts an ill-tempered goblin cleaning lady and tricks a huge red blob with a Peter Griffin’s evil smile on its… face? Whatever. It is possible to solve some of these and other problems either by brute force or by applying the remains of Alex’s logic, in which case he may consult his evil and good beings who appear out of thin air and start a short quarrel. Proven, but tasteful humour.

And the game does have both puzzles and action, it’s not an interactive novel as someone might’ve thought judging from the screenshots. Both elements carry little challenge, not to mention that the heroes often find themselves locked in just one-two locations, making Almost My Floor closer to a casual game, but the activities are still varied enough to entertain. In fact a couple of puzzles were pretty smart and could be reworked for a bigger game. Alex may - and will - also die from time to time (after which a huge, proud DEATH sign appears and the game takes you back for a replay) which is refreshing for modern stellar adventures.

The distinctive comic look and surprisingly effective point-n-click interface (seriously, it’s probably one of the best adventure interfaces I’ve seen recently, while all action sequences are also played with one mouse button) make it a very user-friendly experience despite the macabre themes. I was even more surprised to learn that the whole thing was developed by a small husband-and-wife team. So it’s only natural to expect that their next games will become bigger and better - and, hopefully, more complex. But it’s a great start.

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Time Played: 2-5 hours
Difficulty: Very Easy