The Great Perhaps (v1.32.14)

Earth is already dead when an astronaut returns from orbit, and the silence of its wrecked cities gives The Great Perhaps an immediately mournful pull. This hand-drawn 2D adventure follows his search for answers through a catastrophe-stricken world shaped by distinctly Soviet-era architecture, machinery, and memories. His only ally is an aging lantern that reveals the same locations before disaster, turning abandoned streets and ruins into brief windows onto a livelier past. The mood stays intimate rather than action-heavy, balancing bleak post-apocalyptic imagery with flashes of warmth, humor, and human connection.

Most of the journey revolves around moving through side-scrolling environments, inspecting objects, talking to survivors, and solving environmental puzzles. The lantern lets the astronaut shift his view between eras, so a collapsed bridge in the present may be intact years earlier, while an item or clue found in one timeline creates a route through the other. Threats exist on both sides of time, requiring careful timing and observation instead of fast combat reflexes. Progression is largely narrative-driven: each new area reveals more about the disaster, the people caught in it, and the difficult choices surrounding a possible solution.

Its strongest idea is the constant contrast between what a place used to mean and what remains after it is lost. Rather than treating time travel as a power fantasy, the game uses it to make ordinary spaces—apartments, stations, laboratories, and public squares—feel personal and haunted. The adaptive soundtrack changes with the timeline, reinforcing the shift from decayed solitude to the color and noise of everyday life. Fans of thoughtful puzzle adventures such as The Swapper, The Silent Age, or Valiant Hearts should find plenty to appreciate, while newcomers benefit from its focused, linear structure and emphasis on atmosphere over punishing challenge.