Afterlife is a strategy game released in
1996 by
LucasArts, created by
Michael Stemmle of the
Sam & Max Hit the Road -- based on
Steve Purcell's comic book,
Sam & Max: Frelelance Police -- fame.
With a humorous outtake on the
SimCity series and games like
Outpost, in this game you're meant to manage
Heaven and
Hell, guiding the souls to their rightful place...
Instead of a
mayor, you are a
Regional Spiritual Director. With help from
Jasper Wormsworth (let's say he's the Evil Affairs Secretary) and
Aria Goodhalo (the Goody Goody Affairs Assistant), you have to manage your terrain with the
Seven Deadly Sins and their opposing Virtues, so souls may find rest -- or suffering! -- in their respective places (even though it is our concept of the Sins, the game manual clearly states that the
souls aren't from
Earth! They are EMBOs -- Ethically Mature Biological Organisms -- and when they die, their SOULs -- Stuff Of Unending Life -- go to your playground) and stay there until they're fit for
reincarnation. If you do your job well, you're awarded with
Pennies from Heaven!
But as lots of strategy games have it, there are disasters too... such as
Hell Freezes Over (the name says it all),
Heaven Gets the Blues (the buildings freeze while a very sad
blues song plays),
Heaven Nose (which inhales Hell's evil constructions and sneezes them on to Heaven),
Disco Inferno (where a
polyester-clad
demon boogies down your street, dancing to a
disco song),
Birds of Paradise (they, erm, pollute your buildings),
Bats Out of Hell (same thing, but in Hell), Hell In a Handbasket* ..
If you mess it all up, you'll get a not so nice visit from the
Four Surfers of the Apocalpyse, and your
doom is certain.