Afterparty

Lore & Background

Afterparty was developed by Night School Studio, which had previously released the adventure game Oxenfree in 2016. After Oxenfree's success, the studio worked on a Mr. Robot game and was approached by Telltale Games to develop a project based on Stranger Things. When Telltale closed without warning, Night School Studio was left in a precarious financial position, but the developers had another project in development: Afterparty. The game reportedly benefited from the demise of the Stranger Things game, as it absorbed talent from that project. Afterparty was announced in 2017.

The plot follows lifelong friends and recent college graduates Milo and Lola, who find themselves in Hell with no memory of how they arrived. After being assigned a Personal Demon named Sister Mary Wormhorn, they meet Sam, a psychopomp cab driver, who explains that while demons torture humans during work hours, both groups party together at night. The only way out of Hell is to outdrink and out-party Satan himself. After obtaining an invitation to Lucifer's party, Milo and Lola meet Satan, who demands they prove their abilities by obtaining seals of approval from his siblings, the Monarchs of Hell. These include Apollyon, a judge of the Dead, and Asmodeus, a hard-partying demon. The game features multiple endings depending on the player's performance in the drinking contest, with outcomes ranging from returning to Earth to remaining in Hell.

Reader's Guide

Afterparty is significant as Night School Studio's second major adventure game, following the acclaimed Oxenfree, and it demonstrates the studio's continued focus on dialogue-driven storytelling. The game's development was shaped by the unexpected closure of Telltale Games, which led to talent moving to Afterparty and potentially influencing its quality. Reception was generally favourable, with critics praising the relationship between Milo and Lola, the witty humour, and the game's original take on the biblical setting of Hell. PC Gamer highlighted the audacity of the game's narrative risks, while IGN noted its personal and intriguing story. The Verge commended how the game weaves questions about relationships and morality through sharp-tongued humour. The game was nominated for 'Game, Original Adventure' and 'Writing in a Comedy' at the NAVGTR Awards, underscoring its recognition within the adventure game genre. Its legacy lies in its successful blend of comedy, choice-driven narrative, and a unique setting that distinguishes it from other adventure games of the 2010s.

Did You Know?

• Afterparty was announced in 2017.
• The game's development benefited from talent absorbed from a cancelled Stranger Things project by Telltale Games.

Roots in Palo Alto and a Reluctant Start

Dave Franco came into the world on June 12, 1985, in Palo Alto, California, into a household steeped in creative and intellectual pursuits. His mother, Betsy Lou Verne (born 1947), was a poet, children's book author, and editor of Russian Jewish descent, while his father, Douglas Eugene Franco (1948–2011), ran a nonprofit and a business and carried Portuguese and Swedish heritage. The two met as Stanford students. Both grandmothers left distinct marks: his paternal grandmother Marjorie wrote young adult books, and his maternal grandmother Mitzie owned the Verne Art Gallery in Cleveland and was active in the National Council of Jewish Women. Growing up with two older brothers, James and Tom—who would both become actors as well—Franco attended the University of Southern California. He initially planned to teach creative writing in high school, but during his sophomore year, his brother James's manager steered him into a theater class, sparking an interest in acting. His fascination with filmmaking, however, had roots even earlier: at fourteen, while working at a video rental store (paid in free rentals since he was under the legal working age), he first fell in love with the craft of making movies.

From Supporting Bits to Ensemble Star

Franco's early screen credits were modest—small parts in Superbad (2007) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010), a recurring role on the CW drama 7th Heaven, and a brief stint on the short-lived teen series Privileged in 2008. His first significant break arrived in 2009 when he was cast as Cole Aaronson in the ninth and final season of the ABC sitcom Scrubs, appearing in all thirteen episodes to critical praise. The true turning point came in 2012 with 21 Jump Street, the Columbia Pictures action-comedy remake of the 1987 television series, which catapulted him into mainstream visibility. MTV's NextMovie.com had already flagged him as a breakout star in 2011, and the film confirmed it. The following years saw him embedded in a string of high-profile ensemble comedies: Fright Night (2011), Now You See Me (2013), Neighbors (2014), Nerve (2016), and the sequels to both Neighbors and Now You See Me. He also took on more character-driven work, including portraying Montgomery Clift in Zeroville (shot 2014, released 2019) and a turn in his brother James's acclaimed The Disaster Artist (2017).

Behind the Camera and the Afterparty Era

By the late 2010s, Franco's curiosity about storytelling had pushed him beyond the actor's chair. In 2020, he made his directorial debut with the horror-thriller The Rental, a project he co-wrote with Joe Swanberg. The film, released July 24, 2020, featured his then-wife Alison Brie in a leading role, marking a personal and professional convergence. His 2022 work on the Apple TV+ mystery comedy series The Afterparty showcased his range in a recurring ensemble format, while his 2025 project Together—a supernatural body-horror film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—again paired him and Brie as co-stars. This stretch of his career reflects a deliberate broadening: from the ensemble-comedy actor of the 2010s to a writer-director who selects projects with a distinct genre sensibility, often collaborating with close creative partners. The Rental and Together together sketch a filmmaker who gravitates toward atmospheric, character-driven genre work rather than blockbuster spectacle.

Family, Faith, and the Franco Brothers

Franco's personal life is deeply intertwined with his professional one. He is Jewish, a heritage inherited from his mother's Russian Jewish lineage. In 2012, he began a relationship with actress Alison Brie; the couple became engaged in August 2015 and tied the knot in a private ceremony confirmed in March 2017. Their partnership has since extended into shared screen work, most notably The Rental and the 2025 Sundance entry Together. Beyond his own family, Franco grew up as the youngest of three brothers—James and Tom, both of whom also pursued acting careers. This sibling dynamic shaped his entry into the industry: it was James's manager who, during Dave's sophomore year at USC, guided him toward a theater class that redirected his life from prospective high-school creative-writing teacher to performer. The Franco name thus carries a particular family texture in Hollywood, one rooted in a Palo Alto household where both parents were creative professionals and both grandmothers were public figures in literature and the arts.