Lifestream - A Haunting Text Adventure
Find your missing father and uncover the dark conspiracy surrounding a sacred artifact and an enigmatic brotherhood in this haunting text adventure that combines the best elements of classic interactive fiction and gamebooks.
Developer
Publisher
Release
September 19, 2016
9 years and 319 days ago
Steam Reviews
Positive32 reviews96.9%
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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
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Updated: Jul 14, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher. | A separate publisher is listed without a proven bounded regional or service-only role. | |
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released. | The title released with a separate publisher relationship. |
Media
6 itemsAbout the Game
Lifestream is a haunting tribute to the classic text adventure that plunges players into the roles of Randolph and John Holton, a father and son desperate for answers to the mysteries surrounding a mysterious realm and an enigmatic brotherhood.
Lifestream plays like an interactive novel. You make a series of choices that determine what happens next in the story. But unlike traditional gamebooks and choose-your-own adventures, Lifestream also features more advanced adventure game mechanics, including locations to explore, items to collect and use, characters to meet and interact with, and puzzles to solve.
John Holton's father, a Catholic priest named Randolph, has been missing for two weeks. Unable to go to the police for help, since doing so would tarnish his father's reputation as a celibate priest, John takes it upon himself to search for his father.
Over the course of Lifestream, players take on the roles of both John in the present and his father, Randolph, in the past. While John searches for answers, players see the troubling events that led to Randolph's disappearance firsthand.
Gameplay
Lifestream is a modern "blast from the past" that combines the best elements of interactive fiction, visual novels, and gamebooks with a graphic user interface that emulates the look of early 1990s text adventures. It features beautiful artwork and cinematic music. In place of a text parser is a context-specific multiple choice menu. A compass allows you to travel from room to room, and separate inventory, map, journal, and character screens are available at the push of a button.Lifestream plays like an interactive novel. You make a series of choices that determine what happens next in the story. But unlike traditional gamebooks and choose-your-own adventures, Lifestream also features more advanced adventure game mechanics, including locations to explore, items to collect and use, characters to meet and interact with, and puzzles to solve.
Story
"Father Randolph Holton was dead. Not literally, of course. But in his heart, he knew he could not live on...not after everything he had learned. Sitting at his dark oak desk in the corner of the dimly lit, cozy study, the white-haired, frail Catholic priest--even frailer of late--dipped an old quill into a container of jet-black ink and began to write..."John Holton's father, a Catholic priest named Randolph, has been missing for two weeks. Unable to go to the police for help, since doing so would tarnish his father's reputation as a celibate priest, John takes it upon himself to search for his father.
Over the course of Lifestream, players take on the roles of both John in the present and his father, Randolph, in the past. While John searches for answers, players see the troubling events that led to Randolph's disappearance firsthand.
Features
- EXPLORE multiple detailed locations, including a quaint Victorian home and small village church
- ENJOY over 150 pieces of original artwork
- SOLVE a multitude of challenging puzzles
- INTERACT with a variety of interesting characters
- EXPERIENCE an emotional, hour-long soundtrack
- UNLOCK 30 achievements to view a special post-game bonus scene
- PLAY 8+ hours of content with over 78,000 words--the text equivalent of a full-length novel!
