Altered Destiny
(Foreword: You may ignore my playtime; I played the crap out of this upon original release. Now I’m just having a bit of fun running around the world.)
Altered Destiny is an adventure game where the player controls the character with the arrow keys and types commands with the keyboard.
There are two specific issues I want to address with this review, which could affect your decision to purchase Altered Destiny:
1. This is the inferior MS-DOS version, and not the Amiga version, which has significantly better graphics. I realise there used to be some commercial rights issues with running Amiga games via emulators. However, Amiga Forever provides a solution for selling Amiga games on PC running through emulators. Publishers like this one should look into it.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Point & Click Surreal Games.
Californium
I’d say that I’m a little mixed on this one.
Obviously, I have a love of psychedelics. I love the Bay Area (live there), love the PDK inspiration, love the artstyle, love some of the sound(s) and love creativity & originality.
The reason I’m mixed is due to a little bugginess and honestly the game requiring a little too much patience on my part (I’m a pretty patient dude too). It almost feels at times like it is bordering along “ambient” gaming to solve the “puzzles”. And by “puzzles” I mean the game relies heavily on one core mechanic: find the right spot for clicky, click, repeat. This becomes a bit tedious; even for a $10 game and not immersive. Which sucks because obviously this game has the right ingredients for being very immersive (or even only immersive without clicky click, aka Alien Isolation mod removing the Alien - aka spontaneous combustion exploration instead of clicky clicky) but the tedium of finding that one core mechanic puzzle to progress dampens the immersion & experience for me. This is where it becomes almost “ambient”, the looping atmospheric effects and saying WTF is that little symbol to click, causing much retracing over an already limited (and by limited I mean small) map.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Point & Click Sci-fi Games.
Devs are French and yes, there are noticable English spelling and grammar errors throughout but not unplayable bad. And the English voice acting is on a much higher level than the localization/translation bits and bobs so if you are worried about things being lost in translation that’s not an issue, for me at least. And if you have even a passing familiarity with PKD then you ought to be able to catch the little nods to his books because, well, they aren’t so little nor subtle. It is interesting to see a French perspective on a somewhat contemporary popular American mind and world(s) though. For that alone I feel the game is worth it to me. But this game is MOST DEFINITELY not for everyone, and I would be very selective with whom I reccomend it to. Most PKD fans should find something valuable in the game. I make the assumption that most PKD readers will be less critical of writing and more interested in unique and original ideas in general, and this game is certainly that.
– Real player with 5.3 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
Read More: Best Point & Click Hand-drawn Games.
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
Just Add Noise
ALPHA VERSION COMING SOON.
Create a world, play it music and watch it react and evolve.
Just Add Noise lets you control an audio reactive world. Build a scene and play it your own music.
What will your music attract?
Early experiments here. Although these are a very limited representation of what Just Add Noise will be like…
Just Add Noise is a solo indie project made in Unreal Engine. An early access version should be available soon.
Sayonara Golden Days
A short if not somewhat relatable story of a group of friends slowly growing apart due to life and the project they left behind. It has a bit of a puzzle that doesn’t take too long to figure out.
All of the story is told through dialogue before each level or little snippets.
Only real gripe I have is the rather extremely slow pace of the character (annoying but understandable to fit the first game feel) and that the game crashed on me during credits roll. It was a nice game, but since it deleted my save file I don’t want to restart just to see if the last achievement is at the end.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Short, worthwhile, a good experience. I’m glad I got to play the game, and I enjoyed learning about the characters. I had some problems with menus and freezing, but this didn’t drastically impact my experience.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Catie in MeowmeowLand
Catie in MeowmeowLand is a beautiful traditional point-and-click adventure game set in a bizarre world of cats and ludicrous characters.
As Catie follows a strange white cat in her garden she suddenly finds herself in a mysterious world of MeowmeowLand, where she has to undergo a journey to find her way back home. Your task is to help Catie get there!
Features
-
MeowmeowLand is a bizarre world where you find the most unexpected characters in even more unpredictable situations
-
As you help Catie solve all kinds of original puzzles, be ready to face absurdly comical situations
-
Play through over 24 beautiful 2D hand-drawn sceneries, see more than 100 funny characters and more than 2 hours of charmingly crafted 2D animations
-
Listen to original recorded comical voices of all characters and composed music
-
Instead of reading traditional dull text boxes all characters communicate through comic bubbles filled with amusing line art
Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council
Soulace
can not even figure out how to start a game. pressed every button on keyboard, gamepad and oculus controllers. says 127 hours play time but i have not played one second!
– Real player with 128.5 hrs in game
This game does not work! I have the same problem as other gamer’s, after installation the game will not play, nothing happens when you press ‘new game’ but the stats show I have played for a certain time. I even uninstalled the game and reinstalled but the same problem exists. I can’t even find a website for the developers to email them for a fix, does anyone have any ideas?
– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game
Lost Awakening
The Game
Lost Awakening is a strange and comedic point-and-click puzzle adventure, with witty dialogue and an intriguing story.
The Story
You wake up all alone, washed up on some unfamiliar shoreline. It’s peaceful. There’s nothing in sight besides palm trees swaying in the breeze, and the thick of the nearby jungle. Yes, it’s peaceful; but you don’t feel at peace. There are too many questions racing through your brain. Where are you? Who are you? How did you wind up here?
Explore this strange island to discover its secrets, and unravel the great mysteries thereof. On this weird and wacky adventure you’ll always find yourself asking:
“…What the flippin' heck just happened?…”
Gameplay Features
-
Approximately 2 hours of point-and-click fun.
-
3 unique chapters of story to play through.
-
A plethora of tricky and mind-bending puzzles.
-
Fully narrated dialogue.
-
An array of distinct and enjoyable characters.
Post-Soviet Yandere
This project is a mix of horror and crafting genres. The whole game fits into a week of the life of a little Russian girl. Every day the character must make a particular magic ritual, using the materials at hand. At the same time, the player must control the activity of otherworldly and hostile forces. The girl should periodically look in the mirrors, which are distracting from her task. The movement of evil spirits of the apartment is visible only in reflections. But what happens if the spirit gets too close?
Oneiros
Oneiros is an absolutely fantastic experience that falls on blind eyes: It’s realistic yet mysterious approach to world building, the bright color palette, ways in which the story progresses, transitions through-out the journey, comedic moments, strategic methods regarding puzzles, and enjoyability from beginning to end. All of it together paints a journey…of a man, created by Coal Valley Games.
This new endeavor for the creator’s developmental journey, was a way for the developer to branch out. After years of experience as a game developer, he always felt the need to make a story-driven game, so in 2018, he started production. After two years of hard work, on March 27th, 2020, Oneiros was public for the world to see…or…not…see…
– Real player with 29.4 hrs in game
Oneiros
First Impressions🤔
After completing the game I am glad I stuck with it, and enjoyed most of my time playing Oneiros.
My mind changed from positive to negative a few times mainly due to an infuriating psychedelic maze and an awkward platform level. They were almost enough for me to quit the game completely.
– Real player with 11.0 hrs in game