Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Raunchy journey through hell has drinking, sex, and torture.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Afterparty
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
AFTERPARTY is a side-scrolling cartoon adventure starring Milo and Lola, a pair of lifelong friends who unexpectedly find themselves in Hell after attending a college party. Once they've been processed by reception (and assigned their own personal demon for psychological torture), they begin to do what anyone would: Look for a way to escape. They soon learn that the only way to leave Hell is to beat Satan at a drinking game. But in order to earn the right to challenge the Dark Prince, they need to collect a set of seals from some of his top lieutenants, and this involves some ... questionable activities. Milo and Lola get into long personal chats with each other as you move them between locations, and once they arrive at their destination, there's usually a selection of non-player characters they can speak with to progress the story. Players control movement and occasionally make decisions about what Milo and Lola say and what they drink, but for the most part, players simply experience the story as it unfolds. But there are a handful of junctures where there's at least the illusion of making a key, potentially story-altering decision via the response chosen in dialogue.
Is It Any Good?
There are a lot of ways for people to take offense as they experience Milo and Lola's journey through Hell. Afterparty assumes a mature audience capable of seeing the humor in its heroes' unlikely afterlife adventure, an audience not put off by (blissfully blurred out) scenes of sexual torture, demons sitting and joking around a pot of human stew, and drinking a tremendous amount of horrific looking alcoholic beverages. Some players may also balk at what Lola and Milo need to do -- such as cooperating with demons, and purposely tanking a seemingly innocent man's defense during a Hell trial -- in order to escape. This game will, if nothing else, make players think about their own morality, and what they would and wouldn't be willing to do in order to escape perdition.
There's actually a surprising amount of substance lurking beneath the surface of this outwardly outrageous fantasy. Our heroes freely discuss contentious topics including religion and global warming, go on a rollercoaster ride of emotions talking about their friendship, and even delve into family matters from the past that have helped shape who they are. Things never get too serious, but there's more food for thought here than one might think. There's more to Afterparty than meets the eye, but to get to it, you'll need a stomach for off-color humor.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the depiction of alcohol, drugs, and smoking in media. Drunkenness is a core and unavoidable part of Afterparty. How else might the developers have gone about designing the game without compromising their vision?
Would you choose to have your best friend accompany you into a bad and/or dangerous situation, even if he or she did nothing to deserve being there?
Game Details
- Platforms : PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : Night School Studio
- Release date : October 29, 2019
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Adventures
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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