“Afterlife” Video Game, Lucas Arts, 1996

 “As a semi-omnipotent being, you are responsible for laying out a functional heaven and hell to reward or punish the denizens of a strange planet. Afterlife represents one of the most unusual videogame concepts to ever make it to store shelves. As a semi-omnipotent being (I know that’s a bit of an oxymoron, but this game’s full of things like that), you are responsible for laying out a functional heaven and hell to reward or punish the denizens of a strange planet. To do so, you must keep an eye on the most common sins and virtues of your people (who look a lot like the monsters from Critters), the balance of temporary to permanent souls in each of your buildings, and more mundane tasks like the building of roads and training facilities. For each soul you process you are rewarded with pennies from heaven, which may in turn be used to purchase more edifices and services.” [. . .]    –Trent C. Ward, GameSpot, July 12, 1996

Contributed by Ted Reinert (Bowdoin, ’05)