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Podcast Episodes
In another bumper review episode the team get together to review 7 of the latest adventure games including the Riven remake, Prim, Nobody Wants to Die and plenty more!
A few years Other Tales Interactive released Tick Tock: A Tale for Two, one of the few co-op adventure puzzle games which really helped keep us sane during Covid. Now they have just released their next game titled Miniatures. A very different game, as the title suggests, this game is 4 short stories with a distinct story and art style in each one which can be played in any order. One thing they have in common is that they are sure to pull at your heart strings. Tanya from Other Tales kindly joined Seoirse on the podcast to talk all about both games and their origins and much more! Please enjoy!
Have you ever wished there was an adventure game that could be played in real life with other people? Sure there are escape rooms and there are murder mystery dinner parties. But what if you could stay overnight in the countryside and play a real life adventure game with puzzles and where you speak to real life characters? Well now you can in Lovecraft immersive experience in Wales, The Key of Dreams. This week Seoirse is joined by Stephen Brown who is well known in the adventure game community particularly for his Freeware Adventure Game articles for adventuregamers.com and new AdventureX director and treasurer. Stephen tells us all about The Key of Dreams and what was his experience over this weekend he spent in the Welsh countryside. Was this as good as it sounds? What was the story like and what was it like resolving puzzles over a weekend with other players? You can find out all about this and much more about this unique experience!
We’re all probably aware of Greek Mythology and Norse Mythology and maybe Celtic Mythology but what about Spanish Mythology? If you would like to learn more then Luis from Torrezno Entertainment has got you covered as he joins Seoirse to talk about his upcoming game set in Spain where you play as a girl who wants to become a nun and meets some classic figures from Spanish Mythology along the way. Luis also talks about his Kickstarter and what benefits you can get and a lot more besides. So please enjoy!
In this episode we’re doing things a little differently as instead o speaking to an adventure game developer, Seoirse speaks to DevGAMM CEO, Maria Chyrvona. Maria talks all about this conference which is taking place in Lisbon on 14th and 15th November and she tells us what we can expect and how they are focused on helping indie game developers promote their games as much as possible. She talks about the speakers, DevGamm awards and events happening at the conference this year and much more!
And if that wasn’t enough Maria and her team have very kindly offered two free tickets to the conference for podcast listeners! But since we’re adventure gamers we need to offer some sort of a challenge. So to be in with a chance of winning you just have to answer the following question:
“In which hotel is DevGAMM Lisbon 2024 taking place in 2024?” Hint: answer is on the official website...
The first two people who email the correct answer to info@adventuregamespodcast.com will win a free ticket to the conference so if you are interested in attending (and why wouldn't you be!) then make sure to send in that email as soon as possible! Good luck!
This week Seoirse and Johnny get together once more to review the latest adventure games. Johnny tells us all whether he solved the mystery at Bent Oak Island in this new comedy point and click adventure game while Seoirse tells us how his therapy session went in Vampire Therapist. Then Johnny travels to Scotland as he reviews Farewell North in a new adventure game where you play as a dog bringing colour back to this world. Staying in Scotland Seoirse travels to an oil rig off the coast of Aberdeen in the 70’s but unfortunately drills a little too far and finds an unexpected surprise. Does he survive? Find out in his review of Still Wakes the Deep. All that and much more!
That sound you hear is the thunderous crash when two giant podcasts collide as this week, Paul Korman, co-host of the Classic Gamers Guild podcast joins Seoirse on the Adventure Games Podcast to talk about, what else, classic adventure games. Gold Rush and Broken sword are indeed mentioned a couple times as well as others and they discuss the different qualities of Sierra and Lucasarts. They also talk about both their respective podcasts and what they enjoy and the challenges they experience and how Paul and his co-host Anna Vigue continue to come up with topics on classic adventure games every two weeks for their podcast.
If that’s not enough then Paul also talks about his new adventure game, The Phantom Fellows and what players can expect in terms of story, puzzles and how he learned to make an adventure game after co-hosting a podcast for a few years.
All t hat and much more so please enjoy!
What’s this? Two review episodes in one month? That’s right! There are so many adventure games we want to talk about that we have added another episode where we review the latest adventure games we have been playing. And what adventure games they are! We go back in time as we review two retro adventure games. Firstly Matt. Johnny and Laura discuss the text parser mystery game from Julia Minamata, The Crimson Diamond. Inspired by The Colonel’s Bequest, we discuss if this game stands on its own. Then we also review survival horror game in exploration mode, Crow Country. Also heavily inspired by survival horror adventure games of the 90’s but Seoirse reviews the no combat exploration mode so he discusses whether he believes if this game can, uh, survive without combat.
Not to be outdone thank goodness Laura is here to review Thank Goodness You’re Here as she talks about this comedic adventure game set in Yorkshire. And finally Johnny reviews two new games. Firstly he talks about devil’s Hideout, the third adventure game released by Cosmic Void this year! And finally he reviews Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss, a new detective game set under the ocean. All that and much more!
You don’t need to look far to know that the games industry is going through a difficult period right now. While some triple AAA games may be making more money than ever the reality is that with layoffs, crunch and a myriad other reasons a lot of people in the industry are struggling. And you just need to take cursory glance at Twitter to know how much more toxic that has become. But how did it come to this? Was this always inevitable? And what can we do to make things better? To help answer these questions and more gaming insider and author Marijam Did joins Seoirse in this fun, lively interview to discuss these topics and her upcoming book “Everything to Play For” and just how we can make the gaming community a better and safer place for everyone.
Game Reviews
For as long as I can remember there has been much discussion about whether video games are or can be “Art”. Often dismissed as mainly for children or as an inferior mode of entertainment (even though from the early 80’s at least video games have been telling varied and adult stories whilst entertaining millions of people worldwide) it’s only the last few years that video games have begun to be taken more seriously. While The Last of Us tv series demonstrated to a wider audience that games CAN tell good stories, games have begun to deal with more difficult and sensitive topics such as sexuality, mental health, the effects of war and immigration to mention just a few. That said there hasn’t yet been a game that I am aware of that deals directly with the holocaust. Until now.
“If you don’t behave, the wolves will come at night. They will take you away, as you scream. Do you hear me, you spoiled little brat?”
So begins this game with this less than cheery quote. Who this is and who they are speaking to we do not yet know. But it’s certainly intriguing and sets the tone for what’s to come in this dark, mystery adventure game. We then see a man who has just escaped out of the woods from what appear to be some hungry wolves. Seemingly safe now, he takes a breather but just then he sees a light flash just ahead. Exploring a little further, he comes across an isolated house. Upon entering the house, he is surprised to see a little girl holding what appears to be a rifle pointed directly at him. Her mother has gone out to the generator but has yet to return. After convincing the girl he is not a monster, he decides to set out and bring the girl to her grandparents and if possible find out what happened to her mother. However, that will be a lot easier said than done as this means they will have to go back through the forest and hopefully avoid those wolves and other dangers which may be present.
Armaan Sandhu from Frostwood Interactive burst onto the video games scene with Rainswept in 2019. This game was a Twin Peaks inspired detective mystery which has stayed with me ever since it was released. So it’s no surprise that his next game, Forgotten Fields, is one of the most eagerly anticipated adventure games of 2021. Does it live up to the early promise shown in Rainswept? Let’s find out!
Over the last few years more and more games have been dealing with mental health as a primary focus. We had Rainswept, Life is Strange, Sea of Solitute and many others. There is even a mental resources pack for gamers called Checkpoint. The latest game to tackle mental health is Into a Dream, the first game from Filipe F. Thomaz, who quit his day job in order to concentrate fully on making this game. It was a brave choice so let’s see if it was worth it.
Revolution Software may be best known for their Broken Sword series but before Broken Sword, Revolution released Beneath A Steel Sky (now available for free on GOG). This game would prove to be immensely popular and since then fans have been clamouring for a sequel. Now, 26 years later, a sequel has finally been released. So is this a welcome return to Union City? Or would we have been better off staying in the Gap? Let’s find out!
There aren’t many games set in Ireland. So it was a joy when I discovered Marcella Moon: Secret on the Hill. Add to the fact that that this game is a Nancy Drew inspired mystery where you also learn about Irish culture and mythology and I was hooked. So is this a secret worth investigating or is it better left unresolved? Let’s find out!
As anyone who listens to the podcast knows, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was my first adventure game and remains my favourite game of all time. Everything from the story, the characters, the writing, the puzzles and the graphics have left a lasting impression unlike any other game I have ever played. Clearly I’m not the only one who still has an affection for that game as last year Madit Entertainment announced their first game, The Hand of Glory, was to be inspired by Broken Sword. On June 9th 2020 the first part of the game was finally released. Is this game a glorious release? Let’s find out!
As the famous saying goes, you wait ages for a really good cyberpunk adventure game to come along and then two come along at once (or something along those lines). A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to review the fantastic Cloudpunk and now I have the opportunity to review the other highly anticipated cyberpunk game, Virtuaverse. If you are on the lookout for a retro game that feels like the adventure games of the good old days then read on!
It’s not often that a game begins with a disclaimer that warns of the dark themes the game you’re about to play is addressing. The Summit of the Wolf, developed by Storycentric Worlds and published by Unimatrix Productions, is one of those games. The content warning was for strong references to child sexual and emotional abuse, and depictions of suicide. This makes it clear that The Summit of the Wolf is not gonna be a light experience, and sets the tone for the entire game.
We have been blessed with a number of cyberpunk adventure games in the past. We had the excellent Blade Runner set in the same universe as the film (which was also re-released on GOG thanks to SCUMMVM late last year). A few years ago we also had Technobabylon from Wadjet Eye. And more recently we also had NeoFeud which was included in the top 25 cyberpunk games of all time. But while all three games were very well received one thing that would have added to those games is fly around those worlds in hover cars. Ionlands look to change that with their new game Cloudpunk which aims to literally and metaphorically take the genre to a whole new level.
Written Interviews
Whirlight is a new point and click adventure game by developers ImaginaryLab. Adventure game fans might recognize these Italian developers from their first foray into the adventure game genre, namely Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bonetown.Willy Morgan was an unapologetic love letter to the legendary Secret of Monkey Island franchise, but also brought plenty of its own charm to the table. I was lucky enough to play Willy Morgan and enjoyed it a lot. That game came out in 2020, but these very talented developers have not been sitting on their laurels the past 4 years. In fact, they recently dropped the demo of their new adventure game Whirlight on Steam! That was all the motivation I needed to fire up the PC and give that demo a go. And after finishing it, which took me about an hour to do, I got to ask Ciro Camera, founder of ImaginaryLab, a couple of questions.
In this first written interview Victor from Croquetasesina Studios tells Seoirse about his upcoming game set in the French revolution, “The Adventures of The Black Hawk”.
Videos
Full interview with Charles Cecil about how he is remastering Broken sword 1 for both fans of the original game and for a modern audience.
Ever wanted to know how the character Detective Grimoire came from? Now you can courtesy of the developers SFB Games themselves!
These three games may not be adventure games as such but they have one thing in common: focus on narrative storytelling. As such here are trailers for 3 narrative driven RPGs coming out this month!
In another epic episode Seoirse, Matt and Kieran get together to review the latest adventure games they have been playing including a fan adventure game of a very popular franchise, a game where you don’t control the protagonist, a game set in Canada in the 1700’s and a game set on a Locomotive. Any guesses what the game is called?
Also they speak about another game conference which is unfortunately cancelled but in more positive news Seoirse talks about some of the narrative and adventure games he played at DevGAMM and they discuss the hopefully really good point and click adventure games expected to be released in 2025.