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Game
Game2024
Once Alive
Developer Cem Boray Yıldırım
A story-driven, first-person adventure game offering a cinematic experience. Embark on a journey to HaustVille, an abandoned settlement in a post-apocalyptic world. Explore your surroundings and uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of the last survivors. From the Steam store page
125 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 21, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
86 positive · 21 negative
95% range 72–87%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 86 | 21 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 2 | 12 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
93 of 115 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
80% recommend · 89 yes, 22 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 111 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (421 of 501 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere, graphics, and music, calling it immersive and cinematic. [1][2][3] Many note it is a short walking simulator with light puzzles, comparable to 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture'. [4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize performance issues, awkward English dialogue, and a rushed story. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
You tried... that's the best I can say about this game. The story was so rushed in my opinion... and with the protagonist basically giving you all of the information instead of you trying to unpack the story for yourself through the notes and messages you were finding... really pulls you out of the immersion in the story. There was only one actually "tense" part in the game... and the tension was very minimal at …
- [1]
Once Alive was primarily created by one person. Cem Boray Yildirim is the writer, the designer, the artist, and the programmer. He has done an amazing job, especially when one considers that he was not a professional game developer, by trade. His work is enhanced with a soothing original music score by Yagiz Oral. The game is walking simulation with some collectibles, some find-and-use inventory items to access new …
- [5]
Made by a sole developer who must have played 'Everybody's gone to the rapture' and felt inspired as this game is very similar. Just like Rapture you'll walk around in a completely empty post-apocalyptic world uncovering what happened to the last remaining survivors. You'll uncover the story piece by piece by reading notes, the protagonist talking to himself and, like Rapture, seeing ghosts of the past. Gameplay …
- [2]
This solo dev game is absolutely amazing,fantastic looking,smooth experience absolutely amazing storytelling i already want a sequel i had such a great experience that lasted a little over 3 hours and it's so worth the price of admission,really good and immersive,heres to hoping the dev gets the support so he can continue this or another project or BOTH!!!Pick it up you will not be dissapointed!! Keep on developing …
- [3]
I had the honor and privilege of experiencing this game alongside the developer during a livestream on Twitch. The music is very immersive and the graphics are very well-polished. It had my audience craving more, wanting more....wanting to know the story. In the end, it was emotionally gripping. I appreciated the world-building and cinematic quality that this game provided. This game plays out like a movie and it …
Summarised from 34 of the 129 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Once Alive talk about beautiful graphics and immersive music; those who didn't talk about poor optimization and frame drops. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 125 · most liked firstOnce Alive was primarily created by one person. Cem Boray Yildirim is the writer, the designer, the artist, and the programmer. He has done an amazing job, especially when one considers that he was not a professional game developer, by trade. His work is enhanced with a soothing original music score by Yagiz Oral. The game is walking simulation with some collectibles, some find-and-use inventory items to access new areas, and an abandoned landscape to explore. You play James, a young man in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You tried... that's the best I can say about this game. The story was so rushed in my opinion... and with the protagonist basically giving you all of the information instead of you trying to unpack the story for yourself through the notes and messages you were finding... really pulls you out of the immersion in the story. There was only one actually "tense" part in the game... and the tension was very minimal at best. The entire rest of the "game" is just a walking simulator where you don't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would describe Once Alive as an ambitious and atmospheric first-person walking simulator with light puzzles. It doesn't quite fall under the adventure game bracket for me because game play is too linear and you are reliant on uncovering events in a certain order, usually by geographical order, so if you miss one cut scene you will be stuck until you uncover it. This actually happened to me which resulted in a lot of searching around and the issue arose because I thought a door was locked…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/ihjShmib8A4 ★★★★☆ Gameplay: Good Graphics: Good PC Requirements: Fast Story: Decent Game Time: 1 - 1.5 hours Here I will leave the cat, friends who pass by can pet it and give it a thumbs up ／＞ フ | l ／` ミ＿xノ / | / ヽ ﾉ │ | | | ／￣| | | | | (￣ヽ＿ヽ)__) ＼二つ
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This solo dev game is absolutely amazing,fantastic looking,smooth experience absolutely amazing storytelling i already want a sequel i had such a great experience that lasted a little over 3 hours and it's so worth the price of admission,really good and immersive,heres to hoping the dev gets the support so he can continue this or another project or BOTH!!!Pick it up you will not be dissapointed!! Keep on developing if you can please!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once Alive is my solo-developed game, and it’s now 50% off during the Steam Spring Sale! Hope you enjoy the journey! store.steampowered.com/app/2336440/Once_Alive/ #SteamSpringSale #SteamSale #IndieGames #IndieGameDev
positive · AI labelView post →I’m Cem, the solo dev. of Once Alive. I finally released my game after 3 years of development. I still can't believe my game is out there. Here's a glimpse into my story. Grab it on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/2336440/... #indieGameDev #indiegames #indiedeveloper #indiegamer
positive · AI labelView post →If you ask me if this is a good game, I would tell you that it's a good game considering it was a small development team. It's not anywhere near Everybody's Gone To The Rapture's greatness. It's clearly inspired by it though. The game took me less than 2 hours to complete. Still, I think Cem Boray Yildirim should be proud of himself. It's pretty amazing for a small development team of mostly one (with a little help from his friends apparently). Voice actors were decent and not AI which is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Made by a sole developer who must have played 'Everybody's gone to the rapture' and felt inspired as this game is very similar. Just like Rapture you'll walk around in a completely empty post-apocalyptic world uncovering what happened to the last remaining survivors. You'll uncover the story piece by piece by reading notes, the protagonist talking to himself and, like Rapture, seeing ghosts of the past. Gameplay consists of walking (duh) and very light puzzles. These "puzzles" basically just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: - interesting story - detailed environments Cons: - Have to have reticle directly above an item to pick it up, but reticle isn't available in cinematic mode - Reticle disappears in regular, non-cinematic mode - Mouth animations look very uncanny - English voice acting is not the best - Poorly optimized and drops frames in some areas, particularly around the river - Very little ambiance or sounds from nature, can only hear main character's footsteps - Can't interact with much of the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Indie walking sim has "Very Positive" reviews on Steam, but after playing it for half an hour or so, I'm honestly not sure why; there's a ton of jank that leaves me without much to recommend about the experience, except the unintentional comedy that results from native English speakers attempting to do a professional job of voice acting with a grammatical-error-laden script that clearly wasn't written by a native English speaker. I understand that this was made by a Turkish solo dev with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I will try to be charitable because it's a game made by one person. You can tell so much work has been put into it, and I can respect that. Pros: + Visuals. The game looks beautiful; I didn't mind some goofy-looking mocap now and then. + Story*. With an asterisk because the narrative got me hooked from the trailers but then it went downhill. Cons: - Optimisation. I have a pretty powerful setup and this game still gave me trouble. - Story. No matter the visuals, the gameplay, anything, the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EDIT: I just watched the first trailer and realised it shows more 3rd person interactivity than the entire game actually does, and shows scenes that are not in the game which is....... very odd. -------------------------------------- This is a game that I wished steam had a not positive, not negative rating for. I purchased it at £2, and I would say it is worth that for the less than 2hrs it takes to complete (And can be done much quicker if you dont sit on the menu's and such like I did).…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was really looking forward to playing this since it has so many good reviews. Then I loaded it. It looked beautiful and ran so smoothly. Then I went to change the controls. YOU CAN'T change the controls !!!! Ridiculous. Refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A pop up Saturday Stream! Let’s make up for my sick days with a post-apocalyptic game called Once Alive (thank you #keymailer 😙) Twitch.tv/Bwittany
neutral · AI labelView post →The setting, a post apoc game where the animals have become infected and even a scratch is deadly, wiping out 99% of humanity. You play a character who managed to survive with his younger (but still adult) brother. Your brother leaves after a fight to find a rumored "safe haven" where people still live. You feeling bad (and alone) end up following after him some days later. This game tries to punch up but what follows feels much like a cinematic walking simulator with puzzles that aren't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once Alive is 60% off during the Debut Fest on Steam! 🧑🤝🧑 Lots of new players to connect with! I'm also excited for my fellow devs launching their very first game. Here's to many more! ▶️ Grab Once Alive! store.steampowered.com/app/2336440/... #indiegamedev #debutfest #steam #indiegaming
positive · AI labelView post →♥️ LABYRINTH GATES ARE OPEN! Do you ever just get so giddy to go live on Twitch because you love what you do? Playing a new game, Once Alive, and then open lobby #DBD!! 💜 twitch.tv/minotauries 💜 #oncealive #keymailer
neutral · AI labelView post →This was the Dev's first game! He did a really good job. I enjoyed the story line and game play. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I do recommend this for sure!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really liked the game! The soundtrack is amazing and I loved the voice overs. Maybe just wait for the update on december 10th for the ending sequence, it stuck a lil bit on my computer. The game was about 2:30 h for me but I don´t think I found everything so it will take longer if you really look around. It reminds me a bit of Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Hope there is a second part coming out! ^^
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do it to support solo devs. Great or not, its a feat to be respected.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🔴 STREAM STARTING 🔴 Playing Once Alive, a game that recently just came out, and am super excited to try because of how cinematic this looks. This is a collab with solo developer, Cem Boray Yıldırım, and Lurkit! www.twitch.tv/HeraSays
neutral · AI labelView post →Stilted English Delivery I'm not talking Chinese takeout here, I'm talking about the dialog lines. Voiceover delivery is great, and so is the musical score underlying the game. Easy to listen to for ages. But the lines they got asked to speak are not proper English and they jar the player out of the immersion. Someone opened google translate and spoiled a game that probably took months to build. I wonder if all games titled as horror, somehow get a lower quality bar for dialog and for plotline…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completely linear story walkthrough. I wouldn't call it open world. I finished it in less than 2.5 hours of actual "play time". No actual challenges or decisions to be made and only 3 instances where your action or lack of, has any effect on an outcome.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A decent little adventure walking sim. Sadly the performance is not good. If you have a good pc and like the genre, you might wanna grab this in a sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →✨New Schedule✨ Wed: Once Alive, a story-rich game...YES PLEASE! Thurs: Not streaming, however I'll be playing Black Ops 6 at 9pm EST with my good friend Kaley (B2KKaley on Twitch) who will be streaming! Go give her some love if you haven't already! Fri: Octopath Traveler...I better not cry!
neutral · AI labelView post →I enjoyed this game! Interesting story, it kept me curious. Exploring was pleasant because of beautiful and cozy graphics. Overall nicely put together, especially for a first game and doing it all solo! Very impressive. I hope Cem keeps making games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the characters has nice expressions and nice details! If only this game have more playtime... https://youtu.be/UxF80-QVnvM
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you see this in sale and like walking simulators and knowledge that the actaully good ones are quite rare, you should definitely buy! While it is not mindblowing in gameplay the amosphere and especially graphics compensate the issues easily. The story is quite good also keeping its players tangled into the mystery and how stakes get higher personally for protagonist on each step - unfortunately without spoiling too much it flattens in the end and some events do not make so much of sense.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short (2-3h) and linear. Do not expect a high-end polished game. Story is engaging and interesting. Gameplay is walking from place to place revealing the story. I would only buy it on a significant discount. For a solo indie developer it is impressive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game started off good but the ending killed the whole story. I rate this game 5/10. NOT WORTH THE PRICE. IF YOU BUY IT, BUY IT WHEN ITS ON SALE!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed what I played of this. The graphics were great and the story was engaging. The mystery to it was interesting My only criticism would be that occassionally I felt like I was a passenger in a movie and didn't have any control over the events occurring.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →walking sim, narrative story. I fully thought i had the plot figured out right from the start, but there is a twist. i think the ending could have been fleshed out a bit more but really enjoyed this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What I liked: Setting and landscape Has a moving story Ending and father's voice acting Impressive for a single dev indie game Animations are top-notch What I didn't like: Boring gameplay with no real problem solving No explanation for how I was able to obtain intricate knowledge from ghosts/visual memories. Perhaps a system like in Call of Cthulhu would have been better where you can piece together a fragment of story from clues found at a scene. My graphics card burned my leg because the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would love for this to have been longer. I commend the developer for working on this, but it feels more like a demo than a full game. It shows I played 4.6 hours, but 2 hours was because I paused the game to run errands.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really cool first effort from this solo dev. I love an eerie walking simulator and my only gripe with this one is I wish it were longer - I had so much more I was curious about. I hope to see more games from you in the future, and kudos! :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting story, short and to the point. For a single person to make this, I am quite impressed. Definitely worth the price and worth playing. I am looking forward to more from this creator.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story is amazing and puzzles are simple so there is no constant back and forth walking to solve it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a good story! Thought the story was going one way, and then was pleasantly surprised to find out I was completely wrong. The game doesn't run 100% perfectly, but had nothing occur that was game breaking. Just a few occasions of lag loading into new areas. Graphics are pretty beautiful and voice acting was well done. I really enjoyed playing this and hope that there will be a part 2 released in the future!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing Once Alive on stream today! store.steampowered.com/app/2336440/... #stream #twitch #OnceAlive #keymailer #gaming
neutral · AI labelView post →For someone who had no dev experience and took three years on their own to learn how to do it with GameDev I'd say Cem Boray Yıldırım nailed it. You've got good graphics, simple and effective music for the mood, and light gameplay to move the story along. It reminds me of a single episode of The Walking Dead about a lone community that got it all wrong (without zombies of course). Reliving the memories of the past reminded me a lot of Everybody Has Gone To The Rapture. The only small bug…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A short but emotional story about brotherly love and the importance of family.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had the honor and privilege of experiencing this game alongside the developer during a livestream on Twitch. The music is very immersive and the graphics are very well-polished. It had my audience craving more, wanting more....wanting to know the story. In the end, it was emotionally gripping. I appreciated the world-building and cinematic quality that this game provided. This game plays out like a movie and it won't take you too long to experience it, but man...what a ride.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A decent walking sim by a solo dev and it has voice acting? noice. I'm not gonna say this is the greatest thing I have ever played but I did get very absorbed in the story and trying to piece together the notes and little scenes you come across into a post apocalypse story. Is it a little janky? yes, but its fine. The only real issue I had was trying to fix a wire and figuring out that it had a very specific interact point. The graphics aren't perfect but some of the landscapes were very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very impressive game for a solo developer ! I really enjoyed the short story and simple gameplay, worth playing :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is 2039. 99.99% of the population is dead. The surviving animals are afflicted, and you have to run and avoid animal attacks. You play as a survivor of the epidemic. Some of your family members might still be alive due to their genetic lottery, and you are going to find out. Although it is a short game, it is still recommended. The game exhibited stuttering at the Epic graphics settings, so I slightly lowered the graphics settings. English dubbing is okay but the Turkish dubbing was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game offers 2-3 hrs of game time (maybe less if you rush, what's not recommendable since this game is a walking-sim). For 12€ absolutely not recommendable, it has very nice views, there's a story that you can quickly follow unlike the main character. I bought it for 2€ on steam on sale, therefore thumbs up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going live in an hour to play a game called Once Alive! Looks interesting and even a little creepy. Come join us to see what's up and chat with this moo moo witch. 🖤✨ #DaisyMooLive #vtuber www.twitch.tv/daisy_moovr
neutral · AI labelView post →Here's my game, Once Alive, and the three inspirations behind it! 👀
positive · AI labelView post →I really enjoyed this one. While the whole game takes probably less than 3 hours even if you're taking time to look around, the story is really interesting and keeps you wanting to see what happens next. I got 100% completion on it with all the achievements in that amount of time. But for less than $10 for the game and the soundtrack right now, it was more than worth it. I definitely recommend checking it out and hope to see more from this developer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stream of 11.24.24: Looking back to the collab with Lurkit & Cem Boray Yıldırım with Once Alive—a cinematic game where you explore a post-apocalyptic world to find fellow survivors. ⋆˙⟡ Thank you ⟡˙⋆ Raids: Phulosophy, Thegamewanderer_ #Clips #Twitch
neutral · AI labelView post →Really enjoyed this game. Engaging story. Full review on our website and YouTube channel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Live now, trying out a new game. Once Alive. #indie #adventure #steam #OnceAlive www.twitch.tv/emmanessy
neutral · AI labelView post →The game has very good graphics, but unfortunately it sometimes lags when moving and the textures don't load fast enough. The motion capturing in the facial features was clearly visible in the cutscenes. It was sometimes too extreme in the mouth area but still a nice feature for an indie game. The dubbing voices in English were for the most part very fitting. I liked the story and discovering the abandoned settlement but the map was almost all rocks and a few lakes. It somehow lacked nature…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish listed this game awhile back and it was very good. Couple of very minor issues but other than that it was a good game. (I think it was mostly my computer is starting to show its age :) ) Wish it was a bit longer, but def a very good walking simulator.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story was intriguing and music supported it. I'm glad I had such an experience. I only wish it was a little longer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fantastic magical 10/10 walking simulator story aventure game i completed in 2.3 hours. Very magnificient graphics extremely fun gameplay amazing story and awesome little shadow ghosts that appear throughout the game!!! GG
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my one hour of playing "Once Alive," I was particularly impressed by the visual quality made possible by the Unreal Engine. The environmental design and lighting significantly enhance the atmosphere, delivering a more immersive experience. The graphics are truly remarkable; the attention to detail makes exploring the world a pleasure. The mechanics are simple yet smooth, allowing the game to maintain its pacing seamlessly. Even in a short time, the story and atmosphere managed to pull me in.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was on my Wishlist and I bought it as soon as it was released if you like this genre you'll absolutely love this too x)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had the HONOR of experiencing #OnceAlive alongside the developer himself during my stream! It releases soon on STEAM and it’s a tight couple hours of immersive gameplay and story. Go check it out! store.steampowered.com/app/2336440/...
positive · AI labelView post →
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