<p>Indie creator Petter Malmehed launched his experimental ARG-style puzzler <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/989040/After_Hours/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After Hours</a> back in 2018. While it initially found its audience, Malmehed recently noticed a troubling trend: the game’s <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/989040/After_Hours/#app_reviews_hash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steam user ratings</a> and completion rates have been steadily declining. After some investigation, he believes he’s identified the unlikely culprit.</p>
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<p>The problem? Traditional email—and a generational gap in how to use it. For Millennials and older Gen-Zers, the structure of a digital message is intuitive: you write a concise subject and put the actual content in the body. However, Malmehed’s findings suggest that for a younger generation raised on the streamlined interfaces of modern messaging apps, the concept of a "subject line" has become a source of confusion.</p>
<p>In a detailed <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1qapqns/the_hint_system_in_my_old_game_is_broken_because/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reddit post</a> and an interview with <a href="https://www.polygon.com/after-hours-dev-says-players-cant-write-email/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Polygon</a>, the developer explained that 2024 saw a surge of negative feedback claiming the game was "impossible" or "broken." This led him to audit the inbox of Sarah, an in-game NPC who players must actually email in real life to progress the story.</p>
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<p>Malmehed discovered thousands of emails sent throughout 2025 that the game's automated system couldn't parse. Approximately one-third of these messages were formatted incorrectly: players were cramming their entire message into the subject line and leaving the body blank. Because the game’s script is designed to scan the body for specific keywords to trigger the next plot point, these "wall-of-text" subjects resulted in no response, leaving players stuck.</p>
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<p>"This is a pattern I've seen frequently among younger users lately," he told Polygon. "It seems they aren't used to platforms that distinguish between a header and the main content."</p>
<p>While *After Hours* only has a small sample size of 57 reviews, the impact on its overall rating was noticeable. Rather than blaming the players, Malmehed is taking responsibility for the design oversight and is working on internal tools to better guide users through the emailing process.</p>
<p>"No modern form of communication really forces you to use both a subject and a body anymore," he admitted. "It's completely understandable why someone unfamiliar with legacy email standards would skip one of the fields."</p>
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<p>Interestingly, Malmehed’s more recent work continues to explore retro technology. His latest title, <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3408060/Palm_Cracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Palm Cracker</a>, tasks players with navigating a stolen PalmPilot—a device that predates much of its target audience. Curiously, that game currently holds a "Very Positive" rating. It appears that while email formatting might be a hurdle, the charm of 90s digital nostalgia is still very much alive.</p>
<p><em>Looking for your next challenge? Check out our curated list of the <a href="#">best PC games</a> available right now.</em></p>
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Source: gamesradar.com
