"Solis", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Despite offering only an hour of “gameplay,” by the time the credits rolled Solis had grown on me. The unique graphical style and unusual choice of soundtrack had come together nicely to make quite a beautiful whole, though it is certainly an acquired taste. The story pulled me in as well, and I was able to relate the information Billie discovered to the technological evolution we currently live in ourselves. But that’s why the game’s unexpected ending just when things were becoming interesting felt like such an uppercut. Perhaps the option to make different decisions provides some replay value, but for those like me who prefer single playthroughs, the experience is too linear to offer enough incentive to return for another night. I would, however, be interested to see what comes next if the story of Billie and her shady corporate overlords were to continue in a bigger, fuller installment later on."

"The Tragedy at Deer Creek", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Even without every question answered, the story behind The Tragedy at Deer Creek will compel you to keep slowly uncovering new layers by solving puzzles and finding documents and diaries left by the vanished nineteenth-century settlers. While the user interface feels a bit old-fashioned, and the challenge level might leave some gamers wishing for more, the presentation is beautifully bleak and pulls you immediately into the sadness of the story. I very much enjoyed my few hours spent in this ghost town, and my heart fell when I had to leave, wanting to find out more about its history and the people who once lived there, and the events that followed the tragedy that befell them. But my job there was done, and I guess some mysteries are better left buried in the past."

"Cult Vacui", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Cult Vacui is a valiant effort to present a point-and-click survival adventure with a time management system, but I must admit I was expecting more. All the puzzles are very straightforward, it’s obvious what you have to do to prepare yourself for an optimal defense against the attack of the cult, and it’s hard to miss anything important. Hard, but not impossible, because the fairly strict time restriction doesn’t allow for much leeway in your sequence of events. Thanks to the manual save system, though, you can easily go back a few steps and do things differently, resulting in a game that takes less time to finish than I took writing this review. It still lacks some polish, but the pixel art graphics are a joy to behold, the haunting music will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the story is suspenseful enough to keep you going. You’d think that defeating an evil cult might require a little more time and effort, but all in all, it’s a tidy bit of business for a couple hours of work."

"Whirlight: No Time To Trip", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "If you love point-and-click adventures with loads of stunning locations, interesting characters and many hours of engaging gameplay, you’ll find Whirlight: No Time To Trip a joy to play. Its unique graphical style, combining almost photorealistic backgrounds with slanted architecture and more cartoonish characters, depicts many gorgeous settings in various time periods to explore at your heart’s desire. Hector and Margaret’s antics in the past, present and future provide both fun gameplay and a captivating story, reminding me how much fun time-traveling adventures can be. I would have preferred some better signposting at particular times, and it’s a shame that shortcuts were taken with inventory animation. But ultimately these are minor blemishes in a game that will delightfully suck you into its thoroughly entertaining time-hopping vortex."  

"Radiolight", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "If you can’t get enough of weird 1980s supernatural fiction, Radiolight has it all: dark woods to explore, a mystery to uncover, and strange radio signals messing with the physical world. Graphically stunning for the most part, with realistic sound effects, a great voice cast and a highly atmospheric soundtrack, it’s good for five or so hours of exploration spent being stunned by so many strange encounters. It’s a bit too linear here and there, but that didn’t stop me from forgetting the actual world around me and getting completely lost in this fictional one. It might have its generic elements, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I sat on the edge of my seat the entire way. Not everything was resolved when my quest came to a close, but the ending is a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits type where your own imagination is triggered and challenged to come up with theories for what happens next. If you enjoy supernatural mysteries and are a fan of first-person exploration games with intriguing narratives, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this thrilling hiking trip. Just don’t forget your radio!"

"The Posthumous Investigation", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

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Excerpt: "Time-loop games aren’t usually my thing. Too much repetition, too much trial and error, too much effort needed to change that one detail in order to get the perfect outcome. Not so in The Posthumous Investigation. This mystery lets you hunt for lots of information, and with fourteen murder suspects, every run keeps offering something new. I found it amazing how very unique every single loop still felt, even after more than 40 of them, totaling almost twelve hours of sleuthing. Yes, there is still some repetition, particularly towards the end, and even with some shortcuts after having done things for the first time, there’s still room for improvement in that regard. But with such compelling writing, it’s a joy to read through the dialogues and uncover all the suspects’ connections to the murder victim. Add in the beautiful noir-steeped monochrome setting of Rio de Janeiro in the 1930s and the era-appropriate jazzy soundtrack that perfectly tie together a great investigation game, and I loved it all to death."

"D3AD HAND", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Lasting at least a puzzle-filled four hours, the two standalone chapters now collectively comprising D3AD HAND are a welcome diversion and some much-needed laughs in our war-plagued real world, gently poking fun at the Russian military machine. Especially in the larger “R3D STAR” update, the ongoing switching between human and cat brings greater gameplay diversity, and overall the combination of humor, wonderful pixel art, exciting music and variety of puzzles make you wish for an even longer game. Instead I’ll look forward to Duck Made Of Wood’s next game already in progress, as D3AD HAND is such a promising debut for a developer that shows the potential for stardom."

"Thief's Shelter", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "The unusual point-and-click interface doesn’t take long to get used to; it’s the game design itself that limits the experience. Many times I wanted to go places I couldn’t or look at items I couldn’t pick up for no apparent reason. And that’s a shame, because the story here is intriguing enough to keep you going, and the old mansion environments look excellent in the dim, eerie lighting. I had a lot of fun figuring out the puzzles and only wish there were more of them. At times I felt like a real sleuth searching for clues to solve the mystery behind Thomas Malcott’s death and its connection to the mysterious Red Order seemingly behind it all, though I never really had to put two and two together myself in solving the actual mystery. It seems there are still some secrets left hidden on Highburn Street, but while Thief’s Shelter is a solidly enjoyable game, after two playthroughs I’ll leave it to more persistent completionists to seek further shelter at this feverish Birmingham mansion."

"Cantaloupe Chronicle", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "For a game that promotes its innovative article-writing system, Cantaloupe Chronicle focuses more on character interaction and inventory puzzles like a traditional point-and-click adventure. It allows only a little freedom in the writing itself – except for the final article – but even with its limitations, I appreciated the chance to let my creative juices flow. Being a writer myself, I definitely had more fun trying to be a journalist than traipsing all over town exploring every location repeatedly to find elusive items that are only accessible after you’ve been given the task to find them. Thankfully the puzzles themselves are quite logical and fun to solve, and I never had to call the in-game hint line. Personally I would have appreciated the game better with voice acting and a more appealing visual style, but the relaxing atmosphere and the genuine small-town feel were cozy reasons to escape the real world’s unsettling news stories for a few hours of creating my own."

"Among the Whispers: Provocation", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

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Excerpt: "Not only does it provide another hauntingly eerie environment to explore, Among the Whispers: Provocation is a more active game than Conrad Stevenson’s Paranormal P.I. and I can only applaud that development. While patience is still a factor, and you might get frustrated when a ghost spouts unintelligible gibberish in your quest to find out who they are, it’s a much faster-paced title that also adds puzzle elements to the gameplay. And while the general setting is the same, each night is different thanks to the game’s randomization. Coupled with slowly unlocking more rooms, more tragic deaths and more ghost hobbies, and the historical mystery of the Magnificent Drive mansion to uncover through all kinds of collectible documents, what might otherwise have been a repetitive procedural is elevated into a fun, exciting and mysterious story as well, which will no doubt give even the bravest of ghost hunters some sleepless nights."

"The Dark Rites of Arkham", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "As much as I love books, there’s almost no need to read the original Lovecraft stories when there are amazing developers like Postmodern Adventures creating such well-crafted interactive stories based on them. The gorgeous pixel art here brings both the city and its residents to life, and even without voice acting, the writing pulls you forward along its fairly linear tracks, tapping your foot to the raspy tones of the jazzy soundtrack as you go. With plenty of locations to explore, characters to question, and items to find and puzzle around with, The Dark Rites of Arkham is a very traditional yet utterly enjoyable point-and-click adventure that proves there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. As long as the ride takes us to the darkest reaches of our world and beyond, I’ll gladly spend eight hours of my life on grisly creations like this one!"

"Rue Valley", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Despite some rough edges and shortcuts in terms of technical production, and a disappointing ending that leaves much to be desired, I enjoyed playing through this forty-seven minute time loop over and over again, partly because it very much guides you along the necessary path. Of course there’s repetition, but it’s not frustrating repetition, where you have to do the same tasks over and over again, just a tad differently to get a slightly alternate outcome as I have often experienced in similar games. Here you’re not aiming for that perfect run, you’re looking for all the pieces of the story puzzle, and when it comes to that, Rue Valley’s gaming experience and stylish presentation definitely succeed."

"Éalú", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

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Excerpt:"Éalú is a wordless brainteaser good for a couple hours of pure puzzling to escape a maze filled with mechanical obstacles, its stop-motion technique bringing a real wooden toy mouse to life working wonders. While I’m usually no fan of labyrinths in games, the sheer ambition of the developers actually handcrafting each room, then photographing each step the mouse makes, results in an impressive production that heightens the cuteness factor as well as the empathy you feel for the little fella. I wanted the mouse to make it to the end, hated each time it died, and thus tried to avoid it for the rest of the experience. And of course I cheered when I finally succeeded and saw my little rodent friend leave the labyrinth in an endearing final cutscene. With such a short play time, there’s no need to rush, taking your time to savor the experience. After all, the early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

"Scholar Adventure: Mystery of Silence", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "While I would have liked a bit more meat on this bite-sized narrative and a little more challenge to its puzzles, Mystery of Silence definitely scratches that weird and creepy short story itch that lends itself so well to point-and-click games. At only an hour and a half long, the tale moves at a fast pace and the discoveries you make as you get closer to the truth are sure to chill you. The eerie soundscape makes it easy to forget there are no voices (or indeed, much dialogue at all in a game where most characters never speak). Here’s hoping new games in the Scholar Adventure series, which the developers hope to continue, are more substantial than this, but as a first commercial game, they have put together an enjoyable dark tale that makes me yearn for more."

"Scott Whiskers in: The Search of the Golden Cat", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Scott Whiskers in: The Search for the Golden Cat is everything a sequel is supposed to be, keeping what already worked while improving on the first game’s weaknesses. Scott is a fun, well-voiced character who perhaps sticks his nose into other people’s business a little too much, but that’s precisely what gets him into positions where you need to use your wits to overcome all kinds of adventure gamey obstacles. The jungle is a fairly typical sort of setting for pulpy adventure stories, but developer Funny Factory cleverly fuses it with the modern world, turning it into a vacation resort of sorts without being over-the-top touristy. There’s no fortune and glory in it, but whether or not you believe the Golden Cat really has supernatural powers, some good fun is reward enough to search for solutions to help a downtrodden Guatemalan community become prosperous once again."

"Ghost on the Shore", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Instead of solving difficult puzzles, once in a while you may just feel like going for a stroll in nature. Ghost on the Shore not only scratches that itch, but also lets you experience an engaging, supernatural story along the way. The first-person exploration is somewhat on the linear side, but with plenty of collectibles that encourage exploration, each one telling a little bit more of the island’s troubled history. The banter between the two main characters is amusing, endearing, sometimes heartbreaking, with the constant tension of being stuck with each other but unable to fully help one another. It’s their relationship and the promise of uncovering more of the rich story of the past that keeps you going. This particular ghost on the shore was very much human once, with all the happiness and tragedies that comes with it, and it’s the emotional resonance of this tale that is sure to haunt you more deeply than any poltergeist."

"Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "I’m terribly ashamed to admit it, but I’ve never read the original Death on the Nile novel. I will get around to it someday, but in the meantime I was very happy to play through this interactive and embellished version of the story. For those who have read it or seen the various movie adaptations, the addition of Jane should add some much-needed novelty, and the two storylines of Jane and Poirot intertwine masterfully and even lead to an epilogue I didn’t see coming but made perfect sense. There seems to be a lot more to do here than on the Orient Express – perhaps even a bit too much that doesn’t really seem relevant to the story. And yet I was captivated by the setting and scenery, and really liked searching around for clues and elusive collectibles, as well as questioning people and trying to figure out their secrets. I’m very much a fan of these Poirot games, so I hope that if there’s another, Microids remembers that solving a murder with one of literary fiction’s greatest detectives is interesting enough without a boatful of diversions."

"Vlad Circus 2: Curse of Asmodeus", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "This game certainly holds fast to the original’s production values, and its interesting story is a suitable new addition to the Vlad Circus lore. For anyone expecting more of the same, however, Curse of Asmodeus doesn’t follow the same path as its predecessor. Sure, there are some light horrific elements but you will never be truly scared or have to battle for your life, with the survival aspects largely gone in favor of a more straightforward adventure game experience with simple yet enjoyable puzzles. I mostly appreciated this decision, as I had a great time plotting my escape and playing through Josef Petrescu’s history. But even though I was relieved not to have to keep track of my health and ammunition, I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed as well in the reduced horror factor that made Descend Into Madness such a wonderfully creepy time. And so, while a fun game in its own right that fixes certain issues I had with the first game, ultimately it falls victim to the curse of the sequel rarely being as good as the original."

"Carnival", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

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Excerpt: "Carnival is like a five-hour creepy gondola ride, guided along by an experienced storyteller at the helm. It’s very much narrative-focused and light on gameplay, but the amount of research put into it is astounding, and along with the detailed close-up character portraits and the brilliantly atmospheric soundtrack, it is easy to ignore its few hiccups and let yourself be swept along by an increasingly dark story. It all culminates in a horrific ending that definitely makes the voyage worthwhile, even with some loose ends left untied. A little more gameplay would have gone a long way, but the story is compelling enough that from now on I will always remember that someone who wears a mask might be hiding even more than just their face."

"Mindlock - The Apartment", my Adventure Game Hotspot review!

 

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Excerpt: "Mindlock: The Apartment has everything a classic point-and-click adventure game needs: a lead character you can identify with, great puzzles, amazing music and voice acting, and a realistic setting that’s suddenly turned upside down by an almost magical story filled with strangeness. It’s a dark modern fairy tale with many surprises, both visually and through dialogue, that will creep you out and make you laugh in turn. While it’s only about five hours long, there’s so much content packed in that it doesn’t feel that short. This is a story about believing in yourself and at least trying to reach for the stars instead of giving up and being left only with regret. While Colin felt trapped by his choices, this game succeeded in every way in opening up my own mind, determined to do what I could to help him finally achieve his goals."