Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
A spiritual successor to Dear Esther set in a deserted English village.
In *Everybody's Gone to the Rapture*, players explore a deserted English village to uncover why everyone vanished. Released in 2015 by The Chinese Room and Sony Computer Entertainment, it is the spiritual successor to the studio’s earlier game *Dear Esther*. The title first arrived on PlayStation 4 in August 2015, with a Windows version following in April 2016.
The player moves through the fictional Shropshire village of Yaughton, set in 1984. Floating orbs of light guide them to scenes re-enacted by human-shaped lights, while radios and telephones replay conversations and broadcasts that piece together the story. Players can also interact with objects like doors, fences, and power switches.
The narrative centers on scientists Dr. Katherine Collins and her husband Stephen Appleton, who work at a local observatory. They discover a strange light pattern in the sky that infects and kills animals before spreading to humans. Kate believes the pattern is trying to communicate, unaware of the harm it causes. After confronting Stephen about an affair, she locks herself in the observatory to contact the entity, while Stephen becomes convinced it is a deadly threat.
As villagers suffer from unexplained hemorrhaging and disappear into specks of light, Stephen urges the government to quarantine the area under the guise of Spanish flu. When the quarantine fails, he believes the pattern now travels through phone lines and radio waves, and insists the valley be gassed. In a bunker, he waits out the bombing, intending to kill himself. Unable to reach anyone outside the valley, he realizes the pattern has spread globally. He douses himself in petrol, but hesitates when an image of Kate appears in the light. His lighter slips and ignites the fuel.
In the final scene, the player enters the observatory to find Kate’s light shape making her last recording. She reveals she communicated with the pattern, which argued that its actions were not wrong because it united everyone with their counterparts. Kate accepts her fate, saying humanity can “slip away, unafraid,” and reaches out to the pattern as it descends.
Development began when the team wanted to add interactive elements to *Dear Esther* but found it impractical, leading to this concept.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
- Developer
- The Chinese RoomAdditional work by Santa Monica Studio.
- Publisher
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- Engine
- CryEngine
- Platforms
- PlayStation 4 / Windows
- Released
- PlayStation 4 · 11 August 2015 · Windows · 14 April 2016
- Genre
- Adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
- Director
- Jessica Curry
- Designer
- Andrew Crawshaw
- Writer
- Dan Pinchbeck
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game is set in 1984 in the fictional Shropshire village of Yaughton. The player explores the village and interacts with floating lights that reveal story scenes, as well as objects such as doors, radios, phones, fences, and power switches. The plot centers on scientists Dr Katherine 'Kate' Collins and her husband Stephen Appleton, who encounter a strange pattern of lights in the night sky that infects and kills lifeforms before spreading to humans. Kate attempts to communicate with the pattern, while Stephen becomes convinced it is a deadly threat and urges a quarantine, then a nerve gas bombing of the valley. In the final scenes, Stephen confronts the pattern and sets himself on fire, while Kate, the last survivor, accepts her fate and joins the pattern, believing it to be her counterpart.
Reader's Guide
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic. GamesRadar called it 'brave, challenging, and essential', while IGN described it as 'a beautiful, heart-breaking journey into the end of the world'. It appeared on several 'Best games of the year' lists, including those from Kotaku, GameSpot, and Kill Screen. Some reviewers criticized the game for offering too little interactivity; James Stephanie Sterling, analyzing games often called 'walking simulators', said the game is a model of what not to do in the genre, citing its lack of tonal shift and a back-story more interesting than the game itself, unfavorably comparing it to Gone Home and The Stanley Parable. The game's soundtrack, composed by Jessica Curry, was published by Sony Classical as a 28-track album in the UK.
Did You Know?
- The game was inspired by British apocalyptic sci-fi of the 1960s and 1970s, such as John Christopher's The Death of Grass.
- The developers partnered with Sony's Santa Monica Studio because they could not raise enough money through crowdfunding or alpha sales.
- The game's story involves a pattern of lights that infects and kills birds, cows, and humans before spreading globally.
- The voice cast includes Merle Dandridge, Oliver Dimsdale, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who developed Everybody's Gone to the Rapture?
The Chinese Room built the title and Sony Computer Entertainment published it. It debuted on PlayStation 4 in August 2015, with a Windows port following in April 2016.
What is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture about?
You wander through the empty 1984 village of Yaughton in Shropshire, England, following drifting orbs of light that trigger silent re-enactments and play back radio and phone conversations. Together these fragments piece together the mystery of why every single villager vanished.
How does Everybody's Gone to the Rapture connect to Dear Esther?
The Chinese Room positioned it as a spiritual successor to their 2012 walk-through experience Dear Esther, keeping the same meditative, combat-free exploration style while adding a more structured narrative.
How does Everybody's Gone to the Rapture end?
The story culminates in the Rapture itself: the village's inhabitants are lifted into the sky as columns of light, an event the player gradually uncovers through the scattered scenes and recordings.
What platforms is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture on?
The game shipped for PlayStation 4 on August 11, 2015, and for Windows PC on April 14, 2016.
More in Adventure Games of the 2010s, Part 2 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced