New game playthrough: "Theropods"!

New game!

I don't remember being overly obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid. But I was fourteen years old when Michael Crichton's book Jurassic Park was turned into a movie by my then favorite director Steven Spielberg. So yeah, that's when I started throwing around their names like the next generation did with Pokémon. I don't quite recall another adventure game previously featuring dinosaurs (except when Rex takes a bite out of crime in The Dagger of Amon Ra, but he's a museum exhibit so that doesn't count). I'm quite excited, therefore, to finally be able to play Theropods, a pixel art, point 'n click game about a young primal woman hunting dinosaurs to avenge her mother, who was killed by one of the terrible beasts. Or at least, that's what I assumed the story would be about after seeing the horrific intro...

A peaceful family excursion... For now...

The game has been ten years in the making by Lost Token, and has finally been published by Dionous Games. The first thing to adjust to, is the lack of dialogue and other texts. That's partly why I never really got into the Amanita games. I love my dialogues too much, talking to other characters, getting clues and learning the story and backgrounds that way. In Theropods, it all comes down to gestures and inflections in their (made-up) language. It means listening carefully to how the main character grunts when you click on something, which can either mean "Nope" or "Perhaps..." The latter means you might need another item first, or that it's perhaps not the right time to do it yet.

A peaceful little settlement... For now...

There are suprisingly few hotspots, even though there's lots of activity and details in the locations. I found the hotspots were pretty hard to find, without labels and only a colour change in the cursor. And even then I wasn't always sure what I was looking at, or even what I had just picked up. And it's difficult using an inventory item when you don't even know what it is exactly. There's not much to the gameplay, which mostly entails figuring out the right order of where to click, with rarely more than one screen to play around in. I'm sorry to say I often resorted to using everything on everything, after employing the hotspot highlighter - which I normally never do! - just to make sure I hadn't missed anything during my thorough pixel hunt of that location. 

Caught him!

But other than that, Theropods is a fun game. The pixel art and animations are gorgeous and it's exactly their allure that made me want to play this game. I certainly wasn't disappointed in that regard. Even more astounding is the soundtrack. There's no other word to use than epic. It sounds full orchestral and when it comes to the genre or type of music it goes from The Lion King to indeed Jurassic Park, reminding me of composers like John Williams, James Horner and Alan Silvestri. The music seems to quicken and get more bombastic as you go from one isolated crisis to another. This leads to a very fast-paced story, from dinosaur hunting to a barbarian raid, from escaping T-Rex attacks to avoiding a spinosaurus underwater.

Could be Mara Whitefish's ancestor...

The game consists of six short chapters, and I played through them all in a total of two and a half hours. There are many cutscenes knitting the playable parts together. For some reason (I guess resolution related) these clips are smaller than the regular full screen, like an in-game movie screen with a stone border. You can skip these scenes, but really, why would you? They are equally gorgeous to look at. Unless you want to replay to go achievement hunting; there's supposed to be a dog hidden somewhere in the game, but I didn't find it... 

Here, fishy fishy fishy...

There's also a sci-fi element to Theropods. It's no spoiler, because it's in the game's description: an alien spacecraft crashes down on earth and its occupant gets tangled up in the entire dinosaur/barbarian situation. No, it's not Adam Driver, but it is a fun second playable character, effectively teaming up with the cave woman. There are scenes where you only play as one or the other, but there are also situations where you have to manually switch between the two to get things done. Each one has their own inventory as well but the essence of the gameplay remains the same: figure out in which order you have to let them do something so the scene progresses.

Add dramatic rain animation...

Theropods is a much shorter game than I had hoped for (especially after playing Roots in the Sky for fourteen and a half hours; those playthrough posts are coming soon!) but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile. Granted, the lack of text as some basic guidance can be frustrating if you're not used to games like that, but in the end none of the obstacles is ever that hard to overcome. Developer Lost Token has put together a fun and exciting story, a perfect alternative to watching an action-adventure movie if you have a couple of hours to spare. While pixel art, it harks back to cinematic experiences like The Land Before Time, of course because of that dinosaur theme but also in style and general atmosphere. It looks very cute from afar, but there definitely are some darker (think Negan in The Walking Dead) moments.

You can find Theropods on Steam, GOG and itch.io!

Totally lost on what to do in Legend Entertainment's "Spellcasting 201"...

My first lecture of the day...

You thought I had forgotten about Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance, didn't you? After all, I haven't played the game since late May. New adventure games kept pushing it to the background. Review assignments, dev requests, personal interest... Now, ten games later, I finally had a little time to return to Sorcerer's University of the very early 90s and see in what condition I left Ernie Eaglebeak. Last time I remember I was given an assignment to put a fake moustache on a statue on top of a tower. Problem is, the roof is too slippery and I can't reach its face. Compared to the first game, this one is a lot more open-worldish, without clear goals or clues on where to go and what to do. The writing is certainly excellent, but there's just so much of it, the game just becomes overwhelming.

My second lecture of the day... Exciting game...

So I started looking around campus for other things to do, keeping an eye on the schedule of my lessons. It has been so long since I played last, though, that I don't remember the locations of any... well... locations. The campus is a big place, and every action, including every movement, takes time. It's also a bit difficult to play with all the necessary documentation in digital format, so I keep ALT-TABbing between it and the game. And most verbs I'm using are "save" and "restore", it seems... Last time I was also able to open up the titular Sorcerer's Appliance, but I don't seem to be able to do anything inside it.

I seem to be missing some things...

So in the meantime I've attended two lectures and an alchemy class, where - after relentlessly restoring my game - I was finally able to turn a lump of iron into copper. No idea what for, to be honest. I also finally retraced my steps to the simulation lab, which transports me to a foresty location where I'm supposed to get on board a ship with a woman named Esmerelda, but it's guarded by a troll-like creature. I did find two spells there (which vanish again as soon as I leave the simulation) but no idea how to use them. I know there's a spell locked up tight in a janitor's closet, but no idea how to get my hands on it. 

So, three hours into the game, I'm still on the first day, and I've just picked up a small key one of the professors dropped. Perhaps it's time to go find a suitable lock... But I'll probably have to postpone this playthrough again in favor of some brand new adventure game releases! They just keep coming...

You can find the Spellcasting games on Steam and on GOG!

"Venice After Dark", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "I spent nine hours taking the vaporetto from one beautiful location to another and back again, encountering several eccentric yet loveable, well-voiced characters to help me uncover the mysteries of Venice After Dark. The supernatural elements kept the journey interesting, and I even had fun performing those visual and hearing tests. I wish I could have selected my own inventory items instead of Aiko automatically doing it for me, and I wasn’t fully sold on the abrupt late-game change in direction and final ending sequences. But the developers clearly put a lot of heart into this game, filling it with fun characters, a fair amount of puzzling, and a story exploring the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in our society today. Overall, I enjoyed my time in this cartoony version of Venice, so much so that it succeeded in rekindling my desire to visit the city myself one day."

"Lost On Cow Island", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

Read my full review on Adventure Game Hotspot!

Excerpt: "While at first I noticed only the many, many flaws and gruelling design decisions in Lost on Cow Island, pretty soon its virtues grabbed me. Between the gorgeous backgrounds, the fitting voices, and searching through dark corners with that candle, I found myself having fun almost in spite of the puzzles’ attempt to thwart my progress. Even if not everything makes sense or fits well together when you stop and think about it, that familiar old-school adventure game feel is definitely there. There is a lot to do and many inventory items to collect, with plenty of funny conversations in between. Actually using those items in the “correct” way, however, isn’t so much a matter of pushing your brain cells to the limit as resorting to puzzle experimentation until something randomly works. That too can be entertaining for a while, but in tossing out the last forty years of genre evolution, the game might just leave you twitching and disoriented like a mad cow yourself."

The Road to AdventureX 2026 - Part Two

And here it is: after the announcement of speakers and panels, the official selection of the games exhibited at AdventureX 2026 in London on November 7 and 8 has been released as well! There are thirty-two games in total. I'm not going to go over them all, but I will highlight six games I have a personal interest in, in simple, alphabetical order.

Crime or Punishment by Scale Issue has a very old school look, which reminds me of The Colonel's Bequest and Cruise for a Corpse, combined with the idea behind Overboard! This time, you are the cleanup crew and you need to cover up the murderers' crimes. There's still an investigative aspect to it as if you were the detective, but instead of collecting evidence, you need to tamper with it. This game seems like a fine example of how much fun it can be playing the bad guy.

Deduction games galore these days, and Death at Fleming Manor by Superthumb puts another spin on the detective genre by having you fill out the death certificates. Who are these corpses, and how did they die? In stylish comic book art, you investigate scenes, question suspects, and fill in the details in Golden Idol fashion. Not sure if this is the game to play in a bustling exhibition hall, but I'll definitely give it a try!

I simply can't omit Less Miserables by College Fun Games in this overview. I played the demo a while back and while that version was still a little rough around the edges, it certainly has the potential to win over adventure gamers' hearts. It's fun to play, has great artwork, and features an adorable sidekick. This satirical take on the novel/musical/film probably won't revolutionize the genre, but should get everything right when it comes to being a traditional point 'n click adventure game.

I love myself a library game! The Restricted Index by Ursa Minus therefore looks right up my aisle. Not only do you have to give people the books they want, there's also a deeper mystery involving the disappearance of the previous librarian, leading to codes to crack and secrets to find, all under a strict government regime you can help topple over. The first part sounds fun, the second part sounds hard, and I'm a bit wary of the violent themes of terrorism and capital punishment, but since I'm married to a librarian, I just have to check out this game.

Stop the Press! by Nebuchadnezzar Games has a Papers, Please vibe, but in a 1930s South-American setting. People walk up to you with stories, you decide what to print and which headline to use. You can earn money trying to sell papers, you can choose a political faction and only write good stuff about them, or become a free press and release dirt on all of them. There’s a business aspect as well: how many copies to print, how many deliveries to make, how many journalists to hire… There’s a lot going on here, many stories, many characters. There’s a lot of strategy involved, but I don’t think it’s necessary to be very good at that aspect to still enjoy the narrative to unfold depending on your choices.

Two Realms - Whispers from the Rift by MOD42 Studio was already on my wishlist. Point 'n click, pixel art, a horror drama in a medieval world; this is a no nonsense, traditional style adventure game with an easy user interface. I'm definitely playing the full game when it comes out, so I didn't bother with the demo before, but AdventureX is the place to finally sit down and check it out!


Other games I might try out if time allows are As Long As You're Here, Dance Dance Detective and From Ruins. 

Check out the complete selection on the AdventureX website. Tickets go on sale on August 12th!

New playthrough: "The Monitors"

 

New game!

Did you ever watch one of those 80s comedy movies again, and immediately think they would never be able to get away with that type of humor in this day and age? Well, that's the feeling I had with The Monitors. Norwegian developer Old Man Games have released the English version of their five hour point 'n click adventure game Overvåkerne. They were so kind as to offer me a free Steam key, but it felt like a poisoned gift because I ended up playing through a game I doubt very much I would have ever played otherwise... 

Some innocent office flirting...

You play as Henriksen, an office employee sending out quite the Walter White vibe, who has endured years of bullying and being taken advantage of by his co-workers, while his wife Else keeps calling him from home to accuse him of postponing one household task or other. One day, in true Falling Down style (except for the baseball bat and Uzi), Henriksen cracks and plots revenge. When an anonymous person in the restrooms also gives him a set of ear buds with which he can eavesdrop on the three surveillance guards in the security room commenting on everything that goes on in the building, he starts his mission with a lust for blood and a clear disregard for his personal well-being and self-respect.

The handy task list...

A handy notebook always keeps you up to date of your quests. Most of the puzzles are very easy to complete and usually don't take much more than simply clicking on the available hotspots or using the found inventory items. Henriksen will shake his head whenever you try something that won't do anything, limiting the possibilities and making it very easy to figure out what you have to do. There are a couple of more interesting puzzles, though, like figuring out how to get a piano from the third floor to the first floor by using the ventilation system to influence the people present, and to raise the noise level in a room by figuring out how to upset everybody gathered there in a very basic deduction game style.

Fuse box, check. Tool chest, check. Screwed vent grid, check...

So yes, there are some things to love in this game, if the basic graphic style doesn't bother you. There are a couple of other elements about The Monitors that didn't sit well with me, however, even though the game actually warns you of them beforehand. The first isn't all too bad, if you don't have sensitive ears when it comes to the English language: when you start a new game from the main menu, Kato, the main surveillance guard, asks you if you really want to play the game in English. If you persist, he will indulge you but once more with the warning that you'll play the game in English... ish. After all, it's one of the Norwegian developers himself who does all of the voices.

My facial expression throughout most of the game...

I must admit, after a while the voices grow on you. Henriksen himself isn't voiced, but the show stealers are the three security guards. Kato has a singsong lilt befitting his insecure personality. Maybritt sounds like a chainsmoking old lady. Rune's voice is higher-pitched referencing their doubts about their gender identity. There are many extra characters, some of which are voiced, others only mumble a bit. I have to be honest: after the first five minutes of gaming, I went back searching for a way to choose the original Norwegian voices with English subtitling, but I wasn't able to find that option. Neither was there an option to turn off the voices completely. Since I still wanted to play the game with music and sound effects, I endured those heavily accented voices and like I said, after a while it stopped bothering me.

One of the more innocent gags...

The other element that bothered me more, however, has to do with the type of humor but mostly with the adult themes. While much of the humor is of the poop, pee and barf variety, there's a lot of adult tinted "humor" as well; if you can really call it that. There are many gratuitous and explicit visuals, some quite disturbing, and even one scene that totally made me lose my respect for the main character. Thankfully we are fully warned about this on the game's Steam page. (I can't even mention what happens in the game, because doing so actually blocks this post on the socials...) This game is indeed very much intended for an adult audience, so please, keep your children away from this! I won't go too much into detail (and believe me, I could, because there are plenty of disturbing visuals here!) but it's bad, even in this rough, cartoon pixel art style... There are many depictions of certain female body parts, a weird hallucination of a human/animal hybrid, a strange hole in the wall of a toilet booth, sounds of a certain exclusive "group activity" you'd rather not be a part of...  All stuff you normally only encounter if you accidentally google the wrong words... Seriously, why did I actually play this game?

Handy-Harold! Love him!

Thankfully all that explicit material was balanced by in my opinion the funniest character in The Monitors, one that doesn't even have any lines (and perhaps it's even because of that): Handy-Harold! This guy shows up all over the place in all kinds of outfits: a handyman, a waiter, a choir boy, a nursery maid, a butler, perhaps a dozen different versions in total. This guy is great comedy material and my opinion the best part of the game. It was always amazing to see him pop up in a new environment and in a new get-up.

Don't ask...

There's lots of silliness and surreal weirdness in this game. If you like slapstick spoof movies like Hot Shots, Airplane!, The Naked Gun, or movies filled with adult content like Revenge of the Nerds and Animal House, you will definitely like this game as well. And while I could crack a smile at a lot of the jokes, I drew the line when the game kept taking the piss out of a character with a heavily exaggerated form of urinary incontinence. This spiked the meter from cheeky comedy into just plain nasty and gross territory for me. Coupled with all the adult imagery, this makes The Monitors a tough game to like, for me. While I certainly enjoyed the puzzles and some of the humor, I just don't think I was the intended audience for this game. But perhaps you are? 

You can find the The Monitors on Steam (if you still want to, that is)!

"The Incident at Galley House" has been contained!

So posh...

What kind of freaky Jordan Peele movie is The Incident at Galley House turning out to be?! After playing through the first three hours, I slowly started to realise what was going on in this story. I was able to figure out most scenes fairly easily. Sometimes there was some guesswork and trial and error involved, though never so much as to become frustrating. I'm absolutely loving this game, and it has a good chance to stealing the #2 spot in this year's top ten.

Not as complicated as it looks...

Yet there are some things that bother me. The backgrounds, the actual rooms of Galley House, and the character avatars as well, are too static. You hear these people opening doors, rummaging through drawers, moving furniture, handling items... However, you never actually see any of that interaction. The characters just stand there and pop up in different places in the rooms a bit. Also, whenever they sit or lie down, the avatars you chose for them turn back into empty silhouettes, with a little picture of their face in a kind of thought balloon hovering above them. Even when they die, they just keep standing there seemingly without a worry in the world while every one else freaks out. I guess it was too much to have all those different positions for all the possible avatars drawn up. 

Vworp-vworp-vworp...

While there's no rewarding jingle when you get a series of deductions right, as was the case in similar games like Obra Dinn and Roottrees, the reward here is the distortion effect, transporting you to a scene in the past. whenever you get a coordinate correct. That always felt so good after a series of error buzzes from the machine each time you try a combination.

Lots of bedrooms in this house...

I finished the game in a little under 11 hours. But I can't really write a playthrough post without spoiling too much. So I won't and leave it at saying that I thought I would be done after about 9 hours, only for the game to still have some surprises left! Now I'm sad it's over, and - same as with Obra Dinn - I wish the developers would make a new game, a new story, with this same gameplay mechanic because it was so much fun! 

You can find the The Incident at Galley House on Steam!