It’s the season of frights and delights, that’s right, it’s October. Just in time for the season, Galactic Ghosty has released their point and click macabre adventure, Allogloom. In Allogloom players will take control of Nora, who resides in the Gruesome Grove. Sound perfect for the season yet? What if we also said there were moths that could eat you, monsters, and just a bit of blood? Don’t worry though, this isn’t a gore fest. It also isn’t overly scary despite its somewhat darker appearance. I am too chicken for anything that is deep horror so I can confidently say this is not it. This is a bit of a coming of age story about a girl solving the mysteries of her missing mother, her world, and beyond. Even better? It’s packaged in about a 3-5 hour experience that respects the players time.
Story
I won’t get into too much of the story as this is one of the strongest bits of the game. The story is worth exploring be it by interaction with objects or chatting with everyone. While you can speed through the game and just go from step one to step two without speaking to most people or interacting with each item, you’ll be depriving yourself. There is a morbid curiosity about the world crafted in Allogloom that is deserving of your time.
For example, we learn of the Moth Minder and the ceremony in chapter one. It’s something that Nora’s family seems to take very seriously. The Moth Minder coming to the house to deliver fruit seems to be something that Nora’s grandmother takes quite seriously. The moths must be fed even if the Shepard Moth is possibly missing? What is it that Darling was trying to tell us? Every little detail is important requires you pay attention.
Of course, I won’t tell you what happens to all these characters once Gruesome Grove is seemingly turned upside down. You’ll have to play the game and solve the puzzles to see if Nora is successful in saving her loved ones. What I can confidently say is that her journey and self discovery of who she can be is worth it. It may be a shorter ride, but yet its still with lots of heart and
Characters
Primarily you spend your time with Nora and Hopper, yet there are a few characters that stand out quite nicely if you choose to interact with everything. It wasn’t that they were strongly imprinted on the story, but it made you understand their motivations a bit better. For example, at the start of the game, I actually felt like Tommy might just be a whiny young adult. However through finding items that he had previously interacted with, I learned about a different side of Tommy. The side that reminds you each of us are more multifaceted than we may show, even to our siblings.
There were also characters that had reminded me the bonds of family. In fact, more this is a running theme that we see with more than just Nora and her missing mother. We see the bond between parent and child in a few different settings that I won’t dive into too much. Because again, I really want you to play this game. So you aren’t getting spoilers here. However, just know that whether it is a son looking for his father, a child looking for the comfort of a pet, or a pet following his family into danger to save them, the bonds we have are an important constant in this story.
Puzzles
As it is a point and click game, many of the puzzles you encounter will truly be about finding the correct items and when or how to use them. Occasionally it also requires combining items together. While most of these are not overly difficult, there are just a handful that may stump players temporarily. The reason I say temporarily is that players may just need to think a bit more creatively at times. This wasn’t something that was overly frustrating though thankfully. I truly appreciated this about Allogloom. This isn’t a game that will hold your hand but it also doesn’t make you wonder how anyone would ever come up with these ideas.
For the review, we were provided a walk through on how to get through the chapters of the game. It wasn’t until chapter 7 out of 8 that I finally caved and took a look at the provided guide. Of course, once I realized what I was missing, I had a moment where I said “duh, of course I have to do this”. What this does help you realize though is that Galactic Ghosty really took the time to decide the steps with careful precision but while also being approachable. I have to give them a lot of credit for that.
For those of you who perhaps don’t want a full walkthrough guide to avoid spoilers (but if you do want one check out our YouTube channel starting October 13th for those), there is an option to enable Object Highlights. While this won’t tell you necessarily how to solve anything, it will allow you to see what objects you can interact with. It isn’t a perfect system but it is one step closer to solving the puzzle. Or at least knowing what you can and should interact with. I know, it’s very easy to get sidetracked by all the beautiful art but not everything is meant to be interacted with.
Art
Speaking of the art, well, I don’t even know if I have to. The art of Allogloom really does speak for itself. The hand drawn imagery, the creepy and eerie yet somehow inviting and not scary Gruesome Grove is a gothic beauty. The darker shades still manage to pop off the screen in a way that commands you to look at it all. Spend time with it, take it in, maybe take a few screenshots for a nice new computer background.
There are also just a few areas where the art changes slightly but in ways that make sense. A fairytale book with lighter colors that feels somewhat out of place yet at home, a character that crosses into the more scary or unsettling territory, are just a few of note. It may also be that some of these characters triggered just a bit of my dislike of body horror but again, never enough to make me stop playing. It was always just enough to make me slightly uncomfortable and ready to take the next step to solving what was happening.
Music
The music also helps set the scene and the ambiance of Allogloom. One thing that did happen every so often was that it seemed like the music had a small skip or cut off too soon. I will admit this happened very early on for me, and before a few additional patches were added to the game. So it’s entirely possible that by the time the game is available for the general public, you won’t have this issue.
Is there anything that could heighten the experience of Allogloom? Perhaps a few more sound effects. While I wouldn’t want to necessarily hear Nora’s every footstep, occasionally there were moments that I thought a few more sound effects could be nice. Perhaps the creaking of an old lady’s chair as she sews an outfit for Nora? This is truly nitpicky at this point, but as there is no voice acting in the game, sometimes the ambient noises can help to set the scene.
However I will say this is a game that doesn’t need voice acting. Oddly enough, while I typically love voice acting, I think this one is all the better by not having it. Voice acting can really help you understand a character, but so can exploring the world around you and seeing what they’ve left behind. Or on the opposite end, what they haven’t and what they’ve given Nora. Without the voice acting, it allowed me to decide how they’d sound as they navigated this world. It enhanced my experience quite a bit as it really made me be fully engaged with everything I encountered.
Any Bugs? Besides the Moths of course.
Thankfully, I didn’t run into any game breaking bugs. On the rare occasion, the walking animation didn’t seem to work correctly or they’d start to move without the walking animation triggering immediately. Every once in awhile, as I mentioned with the music, it seemed like the music stopped too early, almost as if the track didn’t perfectly loop back on itself. You have to really be tuning in with a close ear to catch this and more often than not, I didn’t. I actually only caught it while trying to put together the walkthrough videos but during gameplay I was so immersed it didn’t even register. For an indie project, it is always so great to see the care and attention paid to put out the best possible game they can. Kudos to Galactic Ghosty for this.
Final Thoughts
For those who want a neatly packaged, slightly eerie, yet beautiful escape to another world, Allogloom is amazing. If anything, I wish I could’ve had just a little bit more about the spaces we visit to see what was happening in each area. Again, this isn’t anything that’s a true negative, but I did end up with just a few questions on some of the areas we find ourselves. I want to learn more about the settings that have been created for Nora. The areas she finds herself in all seem to have their own reasons for being and I’d want just a little more to understand why. But even without this, Allogloom is a game worth your time if you want a bit of horror with your point and click games.
Allogloom was reviewed on PC. Gamer Social Club would like to thank Galactic Ghosty and Iceberg Interactive for the code. Allogloom releases to PC on October 13, 2026.
