In fact, there are so many games and genres Letter Lost is sort of like, you could fill a bingo card. There’s the misty, Lovecraftian atmosphere; the rogue-lite meets Majora’s Mask time loop structure; I would even argue that the wide amount of player choice gives an immersive sim vibe, though it never quite delves into pure roleplaying mechanics. It taps into that cozy, organisational feeling when you stamp and mail a lot of letters, and it dips into horror that’s more like the PC adventure games of old than Resident Evil. However, despite these comparisons, none of them define what makes Letter Lost so compelling to me.
I think about one story that happened to me halfway through my playthrough. I saw a key on sale in the catalogue for a super high price that I thought could pair with a lock I found. Realising that the money I brought in each day would make this endeavor take several loops, I took that chance. I began stamping as many letters as I could and shipping whatever in the post office wasn’t nailed down to who knows where to make up the difference. All story progress stopped and, as if in response, the game reduced the amount of customers that’d come to the window and cut me some slack with some of the daily rule changes designed to keep me on my toes.
When I finally bought the key and saw it did not pair with the lock, the game then dropped me a big hint about where I should go next and all systems resumed as if nothing had happened. It was as if it patted me on the back for wasting my time and then shoved my face against the next obstacle I should have noticed all along. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Something else I was repeatedly impressed by is how the developers worked around the game’s budgetary limitations to reinforce the central ideas of its design. There are only a handful of rooms in Kharnym’s post office, and the vast majority of the voice acting is given to your boss, Liz, who occasionally checks in with you over the phone. Isolation is so important that it feels unsettling the rare moments you see another character model, let alone hear another voice.
Letter Lost also has a number of original radio shows to listen to for some company, along with a variety of original tracks as well as well-known classical music to throw on the record player. The game allows you to find ways to soothe yourself and lower your guard to then surprise you with something off-kilter that isn’t a set piece, but just enough to keep you off balance. An unexpected pool of blood, a hidden letter to read, or even the repeated implication you’re not alone. By allowing so much work to be done in your imagination, FlatNine lets you imagine something more horrific than the scariest CGI zombie, and lets you suffer for it too.
