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.

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”.