The ordinary case of Margaret Luoni
The head of the laboratory turned to Dirk for help in the investigation of the murder of his employee. What happened to one of the greatest minds in the Cat Head Nebula? What color do the Sumlings hate? Where can I get carbs for my secretary? And in what order did the great Blork Gnarbs draw his pictures? Why me?
You will find the answer to these and other obviously important questions by helping Dirk in the investigation.
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World: In a world where teleportation and robots are as commonplace as a cup of coffee, there are almost no living plants left. Humans are a lower caste and they are doing the work that hardly anyone else wants to do. For example, to investigate murders. The Margaret Luoni case is one of detective Dirk’s many investigations. There will be others! Learn new details of the futuristic universe and meet new galactic races.
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Plot: Travel between planets of the Cat Head Nebula, interrogate witnesses, and find new evidence. Solve puzzles and approach different witnesses with Galactic Handbooks. There are no obvious solutions here, find your own way to solve problems and get 2 different endings.
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Graphics: Everything from locations to the smallest of objects is hand-drawn, as well as painstakingly created character animations
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Music: amazingly atmospheric music
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Sci-fi Games.
Universe For Sale - Prologue
The prologue of this game is really interesting, I love the atmosphere and the settings are so peculiar and immersive.
The plot seems intriguing, I look forward to the complete game release which I’ll definitely play!
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Sci-fi Games.
This is a prologue for the game Universe for Sale. A prologue is like a demo. You might be wondering what the difference is between a prologue and a demo. Not much. Both are ways of promoting interest in the full game. The main difference is that a prologue has its own store page and a demo is on the store page of the full game. A developer could theoretically release the same content as both a demo and a prologue.
This prologue gives an introduction to some of the characters in the full game. The full game might have potential, but the prologue is rather short. You talk to a few people and that’s about it. Thumbs up for the easy achievements though.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Ignatius
Very good game, love the ambience and the great art.
Recommended.
The installed .exe has been renamed and Steam didn’t find it in my drive D :
Just copied and renamed the folder “Ignatius - Reunited_Data” to “Ignatius_Data”, and the exe “Ignatius - Reunited.exe” to “Ignatius.exe”, and Steam worked ok (otherwise no played time is registered).
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Surreal Games.
This game is an adorable noir style game with great coloured highlights. The music is creepy, there are puns that are amazing, and the story is sweet.. The game is generally quite easy, BUT, if you move incorrectly can be very unforgiving - but it was worth it and I had a lot of laughs with it.. The design is just beautiful - there are a few spelling errors and jittery bits but in my opinion I put it down to it feeling like an old school movie that used to flicker and for all I know, that’s how its meant to be portrayed.. The enemies aren’t overly hard, it would be easily playable by a younger audience.. It reminds me of other games that I have played such as Machinarium and looks similar to what Limbo looks like - but it was still beautiful regardless..
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Skaramazuzu
Somewhere between life and death, there is a world made up of hopeful dreams and broken shadows. Souls may sometimes find themselves lured into this strange world to be tested. Examined to find out where they are worthy of moving on to.
Zuzu - A lost Soul
Skaramazuzu is an atmospheric 2D slow-paced, story-driven adventure, taking place in a moody, solemn and mysterious landscape. The protagonist Zuzu, a joyful and innocent soul without any memory, has been summoned by a mysterious entity called Master to discover the meaning of its existence. Through this bizarre journey, Zuzu will meet some strange and capricious personalities who offer to help.
Game Features
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A classic story-driven 2D Adventure, crafted with the appropriate modern and fresh approach.
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Explore over 20 distinct interconnected locations of a strange and dark world.
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Highly-tuned casual 2D controls. Control Skaramazuzu and interact with the characters and the world with minimal effort.
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Full support for keyboards and controllers! Play and enjoy the game with your favorite configuration.
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Discover the story of Skaramazuzu and Master, a unique duo of a lost soul and a mysterious entity.
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Collect and give items with an easy-to-use inventory system.
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A vast collection of creepy and cute characters, all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
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Meet and interact with over 20 unique surreal characters and unlock their individual stories.
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Graphic Assets and animation frames with resolution up to 2,5K
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Unique sound effects for every interactive element.
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A peculiar sound system of voice emotes and expressions for every character.
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A dark, atmospheric original score accompanies the players on their journey.
The void
The world of Skaramazuzu, has a unique aesthetic of a black and white shadow puppet world, set among the ruins of ancient gothic-like structures, while all the while engulfed in a moody and subdued pale ghost light. Every part of this strange landscape offers something new for you to discover. You will encounter almost every location to the unique backgrounds and soundscapes that will enchant you with their sombre and dreamlike aesthetic from the interesting yet mysterious characters. Skaramazuzu is a slow-paced, story-driven adventure game with a cute, creepy, moody and strange feeling.
A collection of surreal and strange personalities
Many strange and whimsical characters are waiting to be discovered by Zuzu on this adventure. Every character will be willing to listen and help Zuzu and ask for something in return. Some of these strange personalities might turn out to be key figures in Zuzu’s little peculiar adventure. By accepting to help these newfound friends, Zuzu will not only learn a little about each one of them but will eventually learn the truth about this strange world.
Creaks
I didn’t know what to expect from this game. While the developer always has outstanding graphics and audio, some of the reviewers were unkind as to the storyline/gameplay. I purchased it anyway as I have always liked Amanita games. I was not disappointed.
The game’s graphics, while dark and subdued, were beautifully rendered and lent the right tone to the story. The music was lovely and not overpowering and sound effects did not distract from gameplay. As to gameplay, I would describe it as Amanita version of the first “Rooms” game but with a better story, graphics, and gameplay. Yes, the basic play is to escape from chambers (rooms) as you move through this fantasy world. This type of gameplay has intermittent breaks when you get a periodically come across some artwork pieces that have their own puzzles to solve. As your character makes his way through this world, you gradually realize the plot and the nature of the characters you find. The puzzles are challenging and never boring. It’s not a violent game but gentle with a satisfactory ending. I’m very tired of games that leave me in limbo waiting for a subsequent games to purchase in order to determine the fate of my character only to find out my doom is my inevitable future with no chance of salvation. I’m sorry; I need a little hope right now. If developers have the power to create a world and story for others to enjoy, why not create one that inspires and doesn’t depress. Amanita games leave me inspired. I hope to see more from them. A sequel to this game would be welcome.
– Real player with 30.2 hrs in game
Beautiful game by the Amanita Team. I’ve been following their games for years and i’ve finally got to properly play one of them and it couldn’t be better!!!
This game features a very charming, very dark and very grotesque art style that it only gets better as you go along.
It has a sort of “Kafka” vibe to it: The story of the game starts with our main character staying on his room, looking bored with life, until one sudden unexpected movement makes a crack on the wall, leaving some strange marks, upon inspection we found the entrance to an subterranean passage which leads into the origin of these tremors…. and a whole cast of strange beings which live in the earth below…. passage upon passage upon passage, its laberintical, babilon like, almost. The journey starts very slow and even monotone much… but soon you will find your way through different places, sometimes rooms, sometimes a cave…. the atmosphere starts to change, the colors follow suite and there will be plenty of variety (graphically speaking).
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
Game Of Puzzles: Slavic Mythology
A very easy, relaxing game with beautiful artwork. The main draw for me was its educational jumping off point to look into the folklore creatures more thoroughly elsewhere. The game play is a simple jigsaw puzzle block mover, and I got through it all in less than an hour on my first play through. I’ve gone back to it a few times when I’ve been stressed and just wanted a pretty game where I had no possible way of failing.
I think the game would be good for kids.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Damn fine puzzle game. Just very short. Pick up on a sale. 10/10.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Insect Adventure
Insect Adventure 8/10 Stars (Steam Only ATM)
This is a Metroid-style MV, even though at first glance, I assumed it would be closer to an HK-style MV considering the bug theme (which they poke fun at in the game). Most of the familiar themes from Super Metroid are all here, although the Dev does have a few tricks up his sleeve. In fact, once I started playing it, I thought this was going to practically be a straight-up reskin like an AM2R type game with bug skin. Luckily I was wrong.
We get the usual mobility upgrades (Relics), consumables (which can be purchased or mined), and upgrades for our health & strength. Plus, some stuff not found in Super Metroid.
– Real player with 15.5 hrs in game
Pretty good little Metroidvania, took me about 4-5 hours for the first ~75% run. It’s indy af, hitboxes are jank, you can stuck in the floor, it borrows a lot of ideas from more polished and popular games, but it feels like it’s own thing and really fun to play. There is a lot of power ups, options for travel and secrets, exploring the world really feels rewarding.
And there is also a second character and 4 difficulty modes.
Give this game a chance, it’s a must for MV fans.
– Real player with 15.5 hrs in game
The Handbook
Great game
– Real player with 7.1 hrs in game
I can’t believe this game was made by two people only. The atmosphere, the gameplay, and the graphics were all charming and fantastic. You owe it to yourself to play this wonderful game, especially since it is at such an affordable price.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Ascending Madness
You’re tripping and loving it …
… until the skulls showed up.
Ascending Madness is a twin shooter that’ll challenge your arcade skills. As you play, you’ll find a variety of psychodelic enemies while fighting them off with cool weapons and equipping with rune power ups.
But it is much more than that. Immediately, you’ll be thrown into Merrick’s story that’ll leave you asking “What is happening? What happened? Where am I (Merrick)?” As you explore, you’ll meet other characters (if you can call them that) who will fill in the details and then confuse you more … or perhaps it is just the madness talking?
– Real player with 27.8 hrs in game
Great game
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
Forgotton Anne
| Byte sized review | Lost and found |
| Graphics | 3/5 - I am generally not a huge fan of anime, especially when it’s hypersexualized as most often than not seems to be the case to the uneducated (in the art form) like myself. As a kid growing up I always thought of it as too raw and too ugly for my tastes much preferring the style of western cartoons, but over the years I have gradually come to enjoy some of Studio Ghibli’s output (that is about as far as my anime adventurousness extends as I have never had any desire to seek out other studios output). Forgotton Anne visually reminds me of Studio Ghibli’s output and that is the highest praise I could possibly reap upon it. While I would have much preferred a more traditional western cartoon animation style, and that is just my personal taste, it works here and continues to help me broaden my horizons which is only a good thing. |
– Real player with 21.1 hrs in game
So that’s where my socks go. Well, I hope they had a nice life.
We all lost something. Whether it be that jacket that you forgot to take with you or an important paper that you misplaced. Or perhaps you forgot you had something as years pass. If you’re lucky, you would be able to find it again, if not, it’s a mystery where it ended up. However, what if a whole other universe houses these items and gives them life?
Anne lives in such a world, along with another human named Bonku. Anne is the Enforcer, which requires her to keep the order and make sure those not following the rules gets repercussions. But why should Forgotlings (lost and forgotten things) listen? Well, Anne and Bonku both wield the Arca which can give or take away Anima, their power source and their life energy. If a Forgotling’s Anima is taken, or distilled, they will just be a regular old item again. However, rebels have risen up despite the threat of being distilled and has threatened the near completion of the Ether Bridge as well as everyone to go back to their owner. Things have gotten too far out of hand, it’s time for the Enforcer to step in.
– Real player with 16.7 hrs in game