Last Seen Online: Investigate dark rituals on Windows XP in this digital horror game

LEFT-FIELD is a series of reviews and essays on new and old independent games that have an experimental or narrative quality.

Sitting alongside the analog horror tradition that has emerged over the past few years is an emerging genre of video games that has explored the uncanny aspects of earlier computer software. These games, which can be loosely called digital horror titles, hone in on the nostalgia and affection of millennial developers for memories of Windows 9X computers, chat rooms, and early 3D software.

Last Seen Online is one such game that revolves around the story of alonegurl15, the pseudonym of a girl named Liz. The allusion to the online web series named lonelygirl15 signals the game's healthy inspiration from alternate reality games. The chat logs make it clear that Liz had quite a few problems in her life, and the player investigates her computer to understand what happened to her.

The game is played in two stages: in the first, players navigate the user interface and applications of a fictitious operating system to find clues to gain password access to the application OtherWorld. These clues take the form of checking out chat logs and desktop files. Once players have gained access to OtherWorld, they complete a series of more traditional point-and-click puzzles in its virtual world.

The puzzles show a lot of thought in their design. There's a witty one that merges the use and position of a music player on the desktop, employing auditory cues in true alternate reality fashion. Other puzzles have good attention to detail, requiring players to think about the sequence and number of the actions they are performing. One of the game's final puzzles creates an inventive mechanic around switches that make water flow in the shape of letters on a fountain.

Last Seen Online demonstrates a good grasp of Windows XP-era software. There's an imitation of a messenger app, and a take on the WinAmp music player. The creepy pop-out windows of the Red Herring app remind me of early experimental website design. OtherWorld, the mysterious application that is the object of the player's interest, seems like a direct facsimile of the Worlds virtual chatroom.

At first, I wasn't entirely sure where the game was leading me. The game's chat logs start a story through the affect of a teenage girl with upfront eerie allusions to personal issues, rituals, and zalgo text out in the open. When the player has the time to contextualise and piece together the story through to the ending, a very interesting and effective idea emerges on the endurance of digital identities.

For a free indie game, Last Seen Online doesn't rest on the laurels of its concept and is commendable in taking its idea the whole way, beyond the pastiche of a simulated OS and through to a genuinely creepy and fully realised conclusion.

Last Seen Online is the first title developed by Qwook, the outlet of San Francisco based designer Henry Quoc Tran, with the soundtrack composed by entropicsonics. Henry originally intended the game to be for a game jam, but continued development until release in December 2023. In the game's credits, Henry cites the work of internet artist Chia Amisola and games including the Deep Sleep series, Hypnospace Outlaw and Emily is Away as inspiration for the creation of the game.

Last Seen Online can be downloaded for free on itch.io.