Pilgrims
A beautifully realized digital storybook filled to the brim with Amanita’s inimitable charm.
The different characters and their little story arcs could come straight out of an old folktale, and the soundtrack (once again by the phenomenal Floex) fits this atmosphere perfectly. The animation is another highlight. As often in Amanita Design’s games, it’s simple yet ridiculously charming. Representing both your characters and items as a set of playing cards is a clever spin on classic adventure game conventions, and it works very well.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Funny Games.
Fun little game, basic, but quite amusing.
A nice break from all of the drama and “git gud” crap in Gamerland™ these days.
Just silly fun.
One map, that starts small and opens up after you progress the story (fairly quickly).
Story is simple.
Art is silly, hand-drawn appearance, not too hard on the eyes.
Short, but will take several playthroughs to unlock all achievements.
Yes, there are guides, but for me the fun is collecting the different cards from each location, and seeing which characters and which cards produce different results (in the same or different locations). Sure, use the guide(s) if you get stuck, but the game is short, multiple playthroughs don’t take long, and you might find a new combination that works to pop an achievement that isn’t mentioned in the guide(s). You might find an unexpected bit of silliness, too.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Mundaun
Mundaun is really good. It’s very refreshing to play a horror game set elsewhere than an asylum, a space station or a suburban house, there’s way too few games taking place in Switzerland. The game looks unique and I’m in awe just thinking how many graphite drawings it took and there’s quite a few striking setpieces I still think about to this day. The atmosphere is thick and eerie, you know something’s not right but can’t quite put your finger on it.
The characters are great, huge love for a certain evil one who oozes darkness. The romansh voice acting adds so much to the sense of mystery and it’s not like you’d play games in romansh everyday. The story is pretty straightforward and feels like a folktale you’d tell just before bedtime, a story the whole town would know.
– Real player with 24.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Psychological Horror Games.
Sometimes it only takes one picture to see that the game will be - at the very least - interesting. I saw the first picture of Mundaun on an indie website something like two years ago, and after that was patiently waiting for release. I was expecting another tiny 2-3-hour horror game - only this time with actual style and atmosphere.
What I didn’t expect was was ten hours of high production values all across the board.
- A culturally informed take on the classical European ‘deal with the Devil’ scenario.
– Real player with 9.9 hrs in game
Suits: A Business RPG
ENGLISH:
Instead of translating my French review, this will do: Suits is an amazing RPG. From the “lore”, to the battles, to the black-and-white universe, to the humor and the characters. I had a blast playing it, getting the achievements, and I’ll do another playthrough often.
FRANÇAIS:
- voix off *
Un monde en noir et blanc. Où les humains ne sont que de vulgaires engrenages pour la grande machine qu’est le TRAVAIL. Où la justice se règle a coup de pot-de-vin. Où la seule nourriture existante est des sandwichs au goût douteux. (Il y a aussi des hamburgers et des pizzas, mais impossible d’en manger!) Où LE PDJ est le maître suprême. Où être VIRÉ équivaut à la mort.
! (Et devenir un sandwich!) The Guy, un employer dont le numéro est sans intérêt, parviendra-t-il à survivre garder son travail, tout en découvrant les bas secrets de ce monde? VOUS le découvrirez dans Suits : A Business RPG!
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hand-drawn Exploration Games.
This has been a little game I had under my radar for a while mainly because I like RPG Maker games and the business theme looks pretty interesting. Plus it had a similar art style to OFF and while OFF was okay, it’s art was pretty interesting. So is it good?
Story:
In a world where corporations run rampant, companies can bribe to get what they want. women are treated as mere plants that look pretty and the mere act of refusing a product is enough to land you in jail. In this world, you live as a simple drone until events happen that put you in an adventure that might change the world.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Samorost 3
ESPRESSO SHOT REVIEW
For an entirely original adventure game with no dialogue that consists of quirky characters, a beautifully composed score, and worthwhile puzzles, Samorost 3 delivers. Explore the hand drawn worlds and discover this little gnome’s grand adventure. Score: 9/10
PROS
-
no language barriers, anyone can enjoy the game
-
memorable scenes made in a very original art style
-
amazing musical score
-
a built in walkthough system in case you get stuck
-
hand drawn back-story visuals
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game
Samorost 3 was one of my most anticipated games for 2016. When I finally played and finished it, it left me a tad bit dissapointed
Right off the bat, I instantly fell in love with the presentation. Like Amanita Design’s previous games, the world is weird and wonderful, with all of the vibrant colours and impressive locations. The world is constantly full of life and energy; often at times, I just stared out into the distance and saw weird creatures in the background and observing their behaviours, and each time doing so felt like observing strange animals in David Attenborough documentaries. It is not hard to fall in love with the off-beat world of Samorost 3. The atmosphere is pushed forward with the beautiful score by Tomas Dvorak, the same composer for the music from Samorost 2 and Machinarium. The sound design, much like Amanita design’s previous entry, Botanicula, is very bizzare and maybe even out of place at times, but that made the world even more weird and charming. The presentation is definitely where Samorost 3 really shines.
– Real player with 10.6 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
-
A classic story-driven 2D Adventure, crafted with the appropriate modern and fresh approach.
-
Explore over 20 distinct interconnected locations of a strange and dark world.
-
Highly-tuned casual 2D controls. Control Skaramazuzu and interact with the characters and the world with minimal effort.
-
Full support for keyboards and controllers! Play and enjoy the game with your favorite configuration.
-
Discover the story of Skaramazuzu and Master, a unique duo of a lost soul and a mysterious entity.
-
Collect and give items with an easy-to-use inventory system.
-
A vast collection of creepy and cute characters, all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
-
Meet and interact with over 20 unique surreal characters and unlock their individual stories.
-
Graphic Assets and animation frames with resolution up to 2,5K
-
Unique sound effects for every interactive element.
-
A peculiar sound system of voice emotes and expressions for every character.
-
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
Kriophobia
The Cold is Just the Beginning
A science expedition was sent to Zhokhov Island to study recent occurrences of magnetic anomalies in the region. Amongst them was Anna, a young geophysicist, along with her mentor and a small military crew. As her group investigates the cause of the anomalies on the island, a sequence of disastrous events unroll trapping them in an unknown underground military complex, under the extreme cold of the Russian climate. Now, Anna desperately tries to survive and find a way out, but something down there disturbingly draws her deeper, and that unknown haunting place bizarrely welcomes her more and more…
Kriophobia is a survival horror in third person, inspired by the old-school games of the same genre. Immerse yourself in a Cold and Inhuman World of Mad Obsession, Extremist Patriotism and Disturbing Relationships, presented with a Unique Art-Style that mixes comics and painting.
FEATURES
-
Immersive psychological horror storyline that explores a twisted and abandoned world
-
Hidden Past Secrets to be found, inspired by real events from Russia’s Darkest Times
-
Cold, Obscure and Terrifying scenarios to be Explored
-
Evasive Combat centered on fleeing and hiding from gruesome abominations.
-
Survival with Limited Resources against Freezing Temperatures in a hostile place
-
Dark Visual Style that blends Comics and Painting in a unique way
-
Fully Illustrated Game World displayed with modern Static Cameras
-
An Exclusive Russian-Inspired soundtrack
Sclash
-
PLUG’N PLAY
- The fight starts as soon as you click play, how much faster can it get?
-
SOLEMN BATTLES
- You have room to breathe: take time to plan your attack and anticipate your opponent’s moves!
-
SLASH YOUR WAY TO THE TOP & MAXIMUM PRESSURE
- Feel the pressure rising with each move in tense one-hit battles set in gorgeous hand-drawn environments where every slash counts.
-
EASY TO PICK UP
- With just 3 buttons and no combos, anyone can learn how to play Sclash in 5 minutes (or less)!
Join our Discord to take part in playtests and events, submit ideas, follow the game’s development, report bugs, or simply chat with the devs and other aspiring samurais!
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
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
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