After the River

AFTER THE RIVER is a choice-driven story game about what one man does after the worst night of his life. California, 1937. On a picking line in the Salinas Valley, a fight over wages leaves the rancher's son dead and your younger brother Otis standing over him, knuckles split, asking if you're mad at him. By dusk the rancher's men are out with rifles and rope. You find Otis first. What you do at the river is up to you. Everything after it is yours to carry. NO TIMERS, EVER The pressure lives in the story. Each moment you hesitate, the voices in the dark come closer, but nothing on the screen counts down. Take as long as you need with every choice. KEEP YOUR STORY STRAIGHT Whatever you tell the posse becomes your story. The deputy, the grieving rancher, your mother and strangers on the road will all test it. Change it once and people start to wonder. RUN EAST ON WHAT YOU HAVE Walt starts with a dollar thirty-five. Cross the hills to Coalinga, Bakersfield, the Tehachapi Loop and the Mojave, on foot and on freights, minding four gauges: Nerve, Heat, Health and Cash. A wanted card goes up. A deputy writes letters. The manhunt keeps its own calendar. LIVE WITH IT Write to Ma, or never write again. Keep a journal, or burn it before someone finds it. Take the drink when it's offered, or don't. Stop in a mountain town where a widow runs a lunch counter, and decide every Thursday whether to ride the eastbound freight. TWELVE ENDINGS A trial. A uniform. A clean getaway. A knock at Ma's door. A run takes 30 to 60 minutes, and the road branches enough that finding every ending takes many more. FEATURES • A complete, branching story set in Depression-era California • 12 endings and 10 achievements • No timed choices • Silhouette art for every stop on the road • Sparse music and the sounds of the river, the rails and the night • Plays fully offline and saves after every choice • Free through Ma's door. One purchase unlocks the full game. No ads. No subscriptions. Contains a death by gunshot, grief, mob violence and drinking.