One of the benefits of indie titles in today’s Xbox gaming landscape is the opportunity to explore profound human emotions. We all experience love, loss, and grief throughout our lives, but our journey to cope with those emotions is unique.
To take such an individualized experience and retell it in a story format that is so universally relatable, as the Indonesian development team Pikselnesia has done with Afterlove EP, is truly special—even if a little bittersweet.
Afterlove EP blends visual novel storytelling with side scrolling adventure and rhythm game mechanics to tell the story of Rama, a young musician living in the heart of urban Jakarta. After the death of his girlfriend, Cinta, Rama struggles to move on with his life.
The heartbreak has caused Rama to self-exile for a year, withdrawing from his friends, his band, and his music. Grief is messy and expresses itself in many ways, but Rama’s distance from his bandmates takes a toll on his mental health and his relationships.
Cinta’s voice, from inside of Rama’s head, adds another layer of complexity to his grief.
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Despite their struggling relationship, Rama’s band secures a gig and the heartbroken musician has just 28 days to deliver on the songs and promises he’s made to his bandmates.
Those 28 days and nights are ripe with opportunities for players to explore Jakara where they will have the choice to mend Rama’s broken relationships or pursue new ones.
Afterlove EP features art inspired by manga to portray the city of Jakarta as a side-scrolling adventure, showcasing the vibrant city with a variety of shops that players can visit to interact with locals. When not exploring, Rama and the player have a change of pace by jamming alone or with the band.
The gameplay for Rama’s guitar breaks down into two strings of music notes —button inputs from the D pad— moving in from the left and right sides of the screen to a centralized note where the beat combines. This is when Afterlove EP’s rhythm gameplay shines, adding a touch of difficulty to the gameplay for good measure.
Art imitating life imitating art
A story centered around loss is a personal one for the Indonesian development team behind Afterlove EP. The game was initially announced by Mohammad Fahmi, the creator behind Coffee Talk and What Comes After, in 2021. Fahmi had assembled a studio of Indonesian developers under the name Pikselnesia to work on the project.
Sadly, just a few short months after announcing Afterlove EP—dubbed Project Heartbreak at the time of its reveal— Fahmi passed away at the age of 32.
Similar to Rama’s period of grief in Afterlove EP, the team at Pikselnesia stepped away from the project for a couple of months before bringing in a former writer on What Comes After to fill the role of narrative designer. As the game had been in development for two years prior to Fahmi’s passing, Pikselnesia was able to finish the game thanks to an outline left behind by the creator.
Pikselnesia completed development of Afterlove EP and, along with publisher Fellow Traveller, released the game to PC and consoles in February 2025.
We did it, @fahmitsu.We finished your game.It wasn’t easy without you here directing us, telling us that we did a good job, or throwing your usual random jokes to cheer us up…But we did it.And we hope we are making you proud, wherever you are now. https://t.co/FRAKe7SK0wFebruary 14, 2025
Exploring cultures and life through gaming
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While gaming is often seen as a form of escapism, it can also be a useful tool for exploring the heavier side of life. Games like Afterlove EP, Coffee Talk, and What Comes After address themes of love, loss, grief, and community in a safe and relatable way.
These experiences are unique to the human condition, but learning to live with, cope, and overcome these emotions can be tricky. Rama experiences devastating heartbreak in Afterlove EP, but with the help of friends, community, and therapy he can come to terms with the weight of his loss and shape a new future for himself. The dialogue for Afterlove EP was written following the team’s loss of Fahmi, which lends an element of increased authenticity to the characters and Rama’s therapy sessions.
Much like authentic dialogue, the setting of Afterlove EP provides a look into the culture of the development team. Jakarta’s Blok M and Ayodya Park are brought to life in beautiful illustrations. From the shops to the background imagery, players will find the game is full of references to cultural signifiers representing life in Indonesia.
Afterlove EP’s manga-inspired art is the work of Indonesian artist Soyatu, who took to social media to celebrate the game’s launch with an illustration of Fahmi and Rama.
we did ittt! @fahmitsu 😭😭😭🥲🍾🍾🍾🎉💙heres i draw you with your kid rama!! we love you fahmii! pic.twitter.com/K3iAqW15QlFebruary 14, 2025
There’s more to just art and exploration in Afterlove EP. Rama’s band and their jam sessions are pivotal to the story, as well. The music for Afterlove EP is also an important cultural touchstone, with Pikselnesia tapping Indonesian pop rock band L’Alphalpha to create the game’s original soundtrack.
Afterlove EP provides a unique opportunity to engage with the culture of Indonesia in an engaging and meaningful way, while also addressing heavy themes that are relatable and authentic.
Escapism is a great reason to pick up a game, but gaming is also an exceptional way to broaden our world views by experiencing cultural learning with enriching and impactful experiences. Stepping into Rama’s shoes and hitting the streets of Jakarta, jamming with friends, working through traumatic loss, and developing new bonds not only fosters empathy, it can provide the player with a new appreciation of culture and the human condition.
Afterlove EP is available now on Xbox Series X|S for $19.99. Afterlove EP’s Xbox launch is part of the ID@Xbox program, which has brought thousands of games to the console and generated more than 2.5 billion dollars in revenue for indie developers and publishers since its inception in 2013.
