The Big Con
The game has a lot going for it, it’s designed with optional content in mind, the locations are fun to explore, the aesthetic is very captivating, the soundtrack constantly changes to match the environment, and it has funny characters that create a grounded, but enjoyable narrative. I think the story had a good pace to it, if you take into consideration all of the things that can grab your attention, they managed to keep it together very well. You can casually complete the game around 5 to 7 hours, there are many optional achievements and cosmetic trinkets, although it would be nice to have the ability to replay specific chapters. Having played the game only once, I am not sure how much impact the narrative choices actually have, the only thing I can confirm is that certain quests have more than one soluton. It’s not a difficult game in terms of puzzles and mechanics, there is usually a place to get hints, and sometimes the game offers you a way to skip a puzzle with a payment. As for the ‘thief’ gameplay, there is not much to it, it’s just a simple timing event with little to no punishment for the failure - I guess it does not make for a deep con game, if you were expecting that.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best 1990's Indie Games.
Absolutely charming and filled with character. I don’t normally gravitate toward things for nostalgia but this game captures the 90s feel so well I can’t help but grin like an idiot while playing. The art style reminds me of so many cartoons and sitcoms from the era, complete with (optional) laugh track. The music is fantastic throughout. The dialogue has an endearing sense of humor. The areas are fun to explore and puzzles fun to solve. And the game, at least as I played it, feels strangely and incredibly wholesome given it’s a game about stealing.
– Real player with 8.0 hrs in game
rodina.doc
Rodina.doc tells the history of modern Russia in catastrophes, protests, and criminal cases.
The gameplay is inspired by classic adventure games. It shows everyday life and tells the stories of ordinary people against a backdrop of historical catastrophes. Many artefacts from the epoch, research texts, and historical eyewitness accounts can be discovered over the course of the game. The documentary is combined with elements of fantastical realism, quotes with fantasy, adventure with classic arcades.
Rodina.doc is a documentary game from the Department of Pain, a group of critically minded documentary artists. This is a journey through the history of modern Russia, from 1991 to the present. Each episode is a catastrophe – the coup, the shelling of the Russian White House, the First Chechen War, terrorist attacks, politically-motivated trials, protests – everything that makes up our contemporary reality, the place we all came from. Our uncomfortable past, our invisible Russia. History is us, and “coming to terms with the truth is a recipe for civic solidarity”.
Game features:
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Point-and-click quests with historical backdrops. Try to live in 1991, stand up against the totalitarian coup, and shop for wallpaper.
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Varieties of mini-games, inspired by classics from the ’80s and ’90s.
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Historic documentary evidence: books, video, radio.
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Music from 1991.
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Invented characters and real historical figures.
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Authentic Soviet newspapers.
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Deficits of toilet paper.
Episode 1. “The Start: 1991-93”.
Late-USSR, 19 August 1991. Typist and translator Nina Alesina wakes up at 7 a.m. in her Moscow apartment. Today Nina is only interested in her renovation work. For some time now, she has dreamed of new wallpaper. At the same time, a fraction of the Soviet government has for a while dreamed of stopping perestroika and returning to late Stalinism. Throughout the country, there are deficits, unemployment, strikes, and glasnost. Starting with the attempted coup in 1991, our story will continue with the constitutional crisis of 1993.
Read More: Best 1990's First-Person Games.
CURSES
★ ★ ★ SPELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT ★ ★ ★
Play as Girl (a 17 year old with dark feelings and major troubles) in CURSES, a hand drawn point-and-click game about navigating the rocky road of self definition. With the help of her cynical cat familiar and a sprinkle of magic, you’ll decide Girl’s path - curse everyone else or care for herself.
CURSES is a game of five acts and five feelings. You can explore world through different, dark emotions that change the tone and trajectory of the story. By interacting with objects in her room you’ll learn more about her past and present to help you decide her future.
Magical Features Include:
★ Tarot
★ Anthropomancy
★ Terrible Poetry
★ Conjuration
★ Seances
★ Mirror Magic
★ Astral Projection
★ Possession
★ Potion Making
Read More: Best 1990's Choices Matter Games.
Justin Wack and the Big Time Hack
A point-and-click adventure about time traveling, love, and scary-looking robots
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Multiple playable characters
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Puzzles based in logic with a wacky edge
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Sleek animations and voice acting
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Built-in hint system
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Ron Gilbert himself backed the Kickstarter :O
Is it true that the dinosaurs are actually eating cave folk after nightfall?
Do you accept responsibility for Kloot’s education in today’s world?
If you really want to cure that cat allergy, you’re gonna have to do some serious traveling…
Should you get stuck, you can always ask Daela for a hint. It’s OK, she won’t tell.
The Wednesday
I can’t believe that the game cost me $15. You can enjoy a lot lot better games with way cheaper price. Do not buy it if you cherish your money. I purchase this only because I wanted to find out why many people blame this game so much. I didn’t want to criticize this game before I actually play it to the end. Now I can, so here I start.
Story was fair enough, but not great. Personally I thought the story was ok. It’s probably the only positive part of this game, but there is little to spoil so I don’t understand why they asked for not streaming the later chapters. The puzzles during the game were too easy so it’s not even worth mentioning.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Internet Court
I have to admit I found Internet Court really funny. It does have a lot of silly moments that make you go what but I loved it from beginning to end. You can beat this within 2 hours but it is really fun to get through. I love the acting being silly but worth it to make a good comedy. The Judge always makes me laugh at every turn. I love the silly ending that connects all 4 cases and my favourite case was the first one. I may not be a fan of the music in the game but love the credits song at the end.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Great writing, including fun dialogue when you make bad decisions (intentionally or otherwise). Clear video and audio with acting by Gamecola staff emeritus.
The judge once said, “I’m going to let you try again, but first I’m going to give you a strike!” giving me my third strike and ejecting me from the courtroom. I might have gotten carried away exploring dialogue options.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Dude, Where Is My Beer?
*Note that the story is unfinished. The game keeps on mentioning part 2, which is never explained whether it’s another game or an update to this game.
My playtime: 22.6h (based on Steam, 100% achievements)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~14 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No (some are difficult but they should be easy once you figure out how to get them).
Intro
Have you ever try to go through several pubs just to find out that they are not selling the beer that you want? Dude, Where Is My Beer? lets you experience the suffering as you, the main character, stranded in a rest stop with a lot of varied, disgusting craft beers with no pilsner in sight.
– Real player with 22.6 hrs in game
Dude, Where Is My Beer? is an oldschool (difficult and illogical) point-and-click game. Worth playing only for masochists who adore the genre’s core mechanics, and even then it might be a tad overpriced at $15 USD.
The store page gives a basic description of the game. I’d add a few notes.
– Real player with 12.1 hrs in game
Auri’s Tales
This beautiful game has a lot of potential and I love the direction it’s heading! You can see the obvious love for the developers daughter that went into its creation.
I recommend keeping an eye on its future development; it still has a ways to go.
Your objective is to collect coins and equipment to help statue friends solve puzzles for rewards and open each heartfelt letter to the daughter of the king and queen who await your entry inside the castle. A map of some kind would be very helpful to follow.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Keizudo
I haven’t played much and I’m not sure if I intend to play much more but I think I can recommend this game all the same from what I’ve experienced so far. The writing is competent which is important because this Is a visual novel. That said, it is not necessarily presented in a way which is comfortable or easily digested (a majority of the time, you have to click through action menus consisting of “thinking”, “investigation”, and “move” to determine your next action within a linear set of actions that all must be taken to progress the game. This can fluctuate from frustrating to engaging depending on the scene and how much dialogue there is. I can’t help but think this system needs to be refined a bit. That said, for me, this game’s visuals where a treat. I adore the pre-rendered low poly look and their dedication to that style even in the character art. In an era of graphic obsessed pc gaming, this a bold and unique move which came to me as a fresh change of pace. I absolutely recommend this game to anyone seeking a new type of visual novel with a bold approach to its presentation.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
Linda & Joan
Linda & Joan is a forthcoming narrative game about a British family. You play as Russell, Linda, and Joan — son, mother, and grandmother — switching between them to help the family cope with a series of traumatic events. Based on a true story.
The main game is scheduled for release in 2022. It will be part two of the Linda & Joan story. Part one is Prologue: “Four Months Earlier” which is available now.
Players experience the events from the perspectives of Russell, Linda, and Joan through exploration, conversation, and tasks designed to give emotional insight into the themes of caregiving, dying, bereavement, and homeland.
What sets Linda & Joan apart from other branching-narrative experiences is that while the player has many choices to make, nothing can change the core events that follow — there is only one ending.
However, actions, dialogue choices, and task completion, do affect the characters’ perception of events. By spending time with happier memories, taking care of themselves, and choosing the right things to say to each other, the characters — and therefore the player — will find themselves able to deal with the impossible.
The characters’ emotional states will be graphically represented in the game. The player will have to carefully balance the needs of the characters to progress, sometimes requiring difficult zero-sum tradeoffs.
These mechanisms attempt to mirror the real-life feeling of being powerless in the face of looming trauma, when you realize that no decision can affect the outcome, but you can affect how you and others feel about it.
Even when life’s story feels like it’s on rails, we still have some power over our own realities. There is still room for dignity, compassion, honesty. For fear and for love. There is a time for self-care. There is a time for duty. The choices we make will define the memories we hold for the rest of our lives.