Letter Lost is an unsettling post sorting game for fans of Strange Horticulture
Something is very wrong in Letter Lost, a new game by FlatNine Games that sees you working in an unsettling post office. If the fact that you begin the game in a dungeon isn’t enough to warn you that something is off, the fact that your first customer doesn’t seem to know who, where or when he is might set off some alarm bells. But that’s the charm here: Letter Lost is designed to be creepy, and it’s all the better for it.
If you’ve played Strange Horticulture or its sequel Strange Antiquities, you might find yourself right at home with Letter Lost. There are similarities across the games: your job is to help customers, sure, but there’s a bigger, more sinister plot at play. Letter Lost plays its cards close to its chest, and you’ll have to go through the motions for a while before you start to learn more about the role you’ve found yourself in and the mysterious island of Kharnym where you now apparently reside.
In Letter Lost, you’ll need to sort letters to go to the right place on the island. Each region has a unique coloured stamp; you’ll need to apply the right stamp, then post them through the corresponding letter box. Get something wrong and you’ll get a harshly-worded letter from somewhere higher up – and that can’t be a good thing.
Aside from sorting letters, you’ll also need to deal with customers who appear at the service window. They might simply have something to tell you, hand you more letters to add to your pile, or something slightly more sinister. Over time, you’ll learn to deal with parcels, too, which have their own specific process to go through.
But the busywork plays second fiddle to the narrative of Letter Lost. It’s clear right from the outset that something is very wrong. You’re not allowed to leave the post office, for one, being provided with food and board to ensure you have no reason to step outside of the door. And while you’re not supposed to read the mail, sometimes the odd letter will stand out enough that you just have to…
I’ve only scratched the surface of Letter Lost, but it’s safe to say I’m already intrigued, and I can’t wait to see what weird secrets await in this light horror sim. Sure, working in a post office scratches a weird itch I’ve had since being a child (I longed to own one of those Post Office playsets…), but it’s the weird goings-on in Kharnym Isle that are going to keep you pressing forward.
Letter Lost is available now on PC.
