Following Freeware – December 2015 releases

Freak Chick

In Freak Chick, the humble hunchbacked cleaner Victor has just been told by his wife Cybèle, who is in a sort of trance, that she is the Chosen One. She gives Victor a list of ingredients required for a recipe that will allow her to fulfill the destiny of all of humanity. Unable to get much more out of his beloved wife, Victor prepares for his quest to find the ingredients. It turns out that finding them is not hard, but getting hold of them proves a much bigger problem. To do so, Victor has to deal with a werewolf and a snake-like lady, talk to an ancient mummy, and do even stranger things in order to complete his task.

Created by Atavismus, Yo Riso and Marion, Freak Chick is played in third-person mode. The game world, which comprises an idyllic pond surrounded by greenery, an ancient Egyptian crypt, the lair of a werewolf and the posh house of an ogre, amongst others, is presented in a crudely realistic pixel art style using vivid colors. There is not much animation in Freak Chick and the movement that is present, such as a fight scene, are rather roughly done. Light and unobtrusive string and xylophone music accompanies the action. There are also a few sound effects like the clanging of a bell and the sound of Victor’s feet on the steps leading down to a crypt that are well done. Mouths move with the dialogue, but there are no actual voices, with all dialogue shown in speech balloons on-screen. During conversations, the things you can choose to have Victor say are listed at the bottom of the screen.

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The game is completely mouse-driven, with Victor moving where you click. Left-clicking an interactive item makes Victor do something with it if possible, and right-clicking gives you a description of the object. Collected items are shown in a banner at the top of the screen, and most of the puzzles in this adventure are inventory-based. They are not very easy, but they are all logical considering the world in which Victor lives, such as knowing how to insult an ogre. Victor and the creatures he meets offer a lot of humorous and sarcastic remarks, making this game fun to play. Unfortunately, with Freak Chick originally written in French, some of the jokes seem to have lost a little in translation.

Freak Chick can be downloaded from the AGS website.

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The Spirits of Kelley Family

You find yourself in a big, dusty room in an old house. In the middle of the room stands a lectern with some strange engravings on it and a yellow piece of paper sitting on top. Reading the page, you discover that a person named Alvin has accidentally trapped his family members’ souls inside four elemental crystals that are now scattered around the house. It’s your task to find these crystals and free the Kelleys. Along the way, you will have to deal with a ferocious magpie on the roof, find keys and passwords, and even break parts of the house to fulfill your quest.

The Spirits of Kelley Family, by MoonMonky, is presented in first-person mode in beautifully hand-drawn screens using subdued colors. The game world is very detailed and you will roam many rooms in this run-down old mansion, as well as part of the garden that surrounds it. Throughout the adventure the same tune, played using instruments from the violin family, can be heard. Unfortunately the track is quite short and gets boring after a while, so it’s helpful that you can turn the music down separately in the settings menu. Nothing is spoken aloud in the game, but the sound effects, like stairs and doors creaking, liquids running and drawers opening work to set the proper mood.

The game is played entirely with the left mouse button. The cursor doesn’t change when you hover over an item that can be manipulated, but this is not really a problem because everything useful in the house is clearly visible. Your ever-present and somewhat obtrusive inventory resides at the bottom of the screen. A big arrow appears in the upper right corner whenever you can step back from the current view. Your quest is all about puzzles, ranging from simple inventory obstacles to harder challenges that deal with numbers and colors. You will have to gather clues throughout the house, as well as more scattered yellow pieces of paper through which the story behind the family’s disappearance is revealed, together with some helpful hints. There is a lot to see and admire in this game, and exploring the house and its immediate surroundings is a real treat. With an autosave function that works very well, it took me about 2-3 hours to finish.

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