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!
