AdventureX 2016 round-up: Part 1

The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle: Episode 2 – A Bleaker Predicklement

Having failed to achieve famed adventurer status as planned, Bertram resigned himself to working in a soap factory. However, he was soon to gain fame of a most unwelcome sort. Accused of murder, Bertram finds himself cast into a bleak jail cell. Whilst he seeks the means to escape and clear his name, the sparse contents of his cell limit his options. Fortunately his faithful cyclopean manservant, Gavin, is still on the outside. Using his native wiles and prodigious strength, Gavin sets out to liberate his master.

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This follow-up from Rumpus Animation continues the story started in Episode 1, bringing this particular tale to its conclusion. Player feedback from the first episode showed Gavin was popular, but it was felt he had too little to do. That is rectified in this instalment, with Gavin able to range widely about town in the demo, whilst Bertram is stuck in a single small room. Both characters will be needed to succeed though, with control passed between them via the cell window. Control is handled through a standard point-and-click interface, with a third-person perspective as the character moves from scene to scene. The game features the same tongue-in-cheek humour and exaggerated cartoon graphics of its predecessor. Whilst not complete for the convention demo, the voice-work on display indicates the same high quality will be carried over for that too.

More information can be found on the series’ website. The game is expected to be released in February 2017.

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The St. Christopher’s School Lockdown

At St. Christopher’s public school, catering to students in their late teens and early 20s, the students are staging a sit-down protest. Having falsely gained entry to the school as a student, Kayleigh now finds herself trapped with the others in the main building where they have set up. The school authorities are not going to take this demonstration lying down though, and have their own plans for making the students give up. As the situation escalates, Kayleigh must find a way to help her new-found friends. As she is neither the sister of a student nor a substitute teacher as she has claimed to be, this could prove tricky without blowing her cover.

Having studied graphic design in the UK, Classroom Graffiti Productions’ project lead Laney Berry has applied her experience to the hand-drawn, gritty look and feel of the game. Whilst no date is specified, the setting has the feel of a traditional UK university in the early 1990s. The art style is similar to graphic novels of the era, presenting a realistic look in a watercolour style. The section I played took place in an office and adjoining common room area with standard point-and-click controls and third-person perspective. Locating a password for the computer was hampered by Kayleigh not knowing the name of the staff member likely to have it in their pigeon-hole. When the power was subsequently cut, I needed to improvise a light source. I was also treated to a demo of a card minigame based around voodoo adventure characters. This included the subtly renamed Leisure Suit Barry and Manbrush.

More information can be found on the developer’s website, where a playable demo is available. This first full-length adventure of what promises to be a series of games is due to arrive in March 2017.

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Crowns and Pawns

Milda, a young woman living in Chicago, received some unexpected news. A grandfather that she barely remembers has passed away and left her his old house in central Europe. Travelling to her inheritance, she discovers an apparently run-down cottage. But there are indications that she is not the only recent visitor. The letter leaving her the house talked about the family being guardians of a great secret. Just what has Milda fallen into?

Tag of Joy’s Crowns and Pawns feels inspired by the Broken Sword series, with its storyline of an unsuspecting American thrown into an ancient European conspiracy. This is not entirely surprising, as some of the team were involved in the acclaimed freeware fan sequel Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars. The graphics use a detailed and realistic 3D rendering, with Milda appearing as a young blonde woman. The house is also rendered in great detail, with threadbare furniture and sunlight streaming through the windows. Partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the developers are aiming for an early 2018 release, with the game being fully voiced between now and then.

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More information can be found on the official website.

Code 7

As an accomplished hacker named Alex, your task is to help your partner Sam. The two of you have become separated, so the only help you can offer is in remotely hacking systems to aid Sam’s progress. Together you are investigating a space station that recently lost all communication. The problem is that you can’t remember infiltrating the station or why you even wanted to do so in the first place. For that matter, though you apparently hired her for this task, you can’t really recall Sam or your mission either. Perhaps if you can help Sam locate the information she needs, that will give some insight into your own problems.

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Having originally been released as a freeware game put together in a week, Goodwolf Studio’s game has made huge strides since then. The top half of the display holds text of your conversations with Sam. Whilst her side of these dialogues is fully voiced to a good quality, yours is text-only, allegedly due to a faulty audio circuit. The bottom left corner includes a small video window showing a head-shot of Sam, with the rest being used for the interface. Commands are typed, though you are offered auto-complete of currently available commands to speed things along. Later you also get a wireframe map of the area around Sam, on which you can direct her using room references. Initial puzzles involve searching databases and other sources for command codes. Later on, a hacking minigame appears, in which you must trace a data flow, then intercept it to break security. The screen has a nice glitching effect, which enhances the feel of working in a system where you do not belong, though this can be turned off if players find it annoying.

More information can be found on the Code 7 website. The game is to be released in an episodic fashion, with the first free instalment, Episode 0, available now.