Never Alone Game Review

This was one of the most interesting games I’ve ever played. It’s the first game I’ve ever played that focused on First Nations mythology and culture, and it was done extremely well. The producers: Upper One Games and E Line Media worked directly with the tribe for cultural accuracy and inspiration. In addition to the in game story, which is one of the Iñupiaq traditional stories, it has “cultural insights” that you can unlock through game play, which are short documentaries about different aspects of Iñupiaq Alaska Native culture. The whole game is narrated in the native language of the Iñupiaq, with subtitles to translate.

Never Alone is a side scroll survival puzzle game that follows a little girl who leaves her village on a quest to find out what causes the blizzards that make Caribou hunting hard for her people. She gets lost in the blizzard and meets a white fox who guides her with the help of the spirits. She has to run from polar bears, escape dangerous cracking ice, rescue an artifact from strange little people, solve puzzles, and work together with the fox to overcome some really unique monsters.

Overall, it took us a little more than 2 hours to complete the game. I think it’s worth your time to play through this game, and it’s currently on sale on the Steam Summer Sale for around $3. There is a DLC (downloadable content) called Foxtales that I’ve not yet purchased, but it only adds about a dollar to your purchase. I would recommend getting that too.