Interview with Tom Hardwidge of Tall Story Games - Lucy Dreaming & Heir of the Dog

Nowadays in particular it’s become normal for developers to make truly fantastic debut games such as Norco and The Case of the Golden Idol to mention just two. But it’s hard to think of anybody who has made their mark as much as Tom Hardwidge, one half of Tall Story Games. Along with his wife Emma Hardwidge, who also voiced the main character in their debut game, they took the adventure game community by storm with their debut game Lucy Dreaming. But now they’re back with their new game Heir of the Dog. With a hugely successful Kickstarter which was funded in less than 2 hours and made close to 5 times its goal it’s clear their success is going to continue.

Tom was kind enough to speak to Seoirse last December which is why none of this is mentioned but he does speak in more detail about what we can expect from his upcoming game Heir of the Dog including the story, gameplay, puzzles and he talks about his philosophy regarding puzzles and how much help should be given to players and he also has enough time to talk a little about his time voicing the main character in Guga’s game The Will of Arthur Flabbington. All this and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Reviews of Alone in the Dark, Suzerain DLC, Midnight Margo, Tachyon Dreams Anthology & More!

In one of our most epic episodes to date Seoirse, Johnny and Matt review 9 games! In this episode there are a lot of monsters about as they need to help people deal with monsters over the phone in Home Safety Hotline. Sometimes however you need to send in a detective or a family member in the remake of Alone in the Dark but when that doesn’t work why not send an octogenarian to fight aliens? If an 80 year old can be US president then surely an octogenarian can deal with a few aliens as well.

Elsewhere Matt tries to get away with murder in Inkle’s classic Overboard and tells us all about Midnight Margo, from one half of the devs of Whispers of the Machine. Seoirse also tells us about his thoughts on detective/horror/visual novel Echoes and a new game which deals with immigration in Songs of Travel.

The final game reviewed this month is Suzerain: Kingdowm of Rizia the new DLC of Suzerain. Instead of being president this time you are king of neighbouring country Rizia and Seoirse gives his thoughts on whether Torpor Games were able to live up the very high expectations from the previous game.

As if that wasn’t enough they also discuss two new Crowdfunding projects as they reveal more details Legends of adventure, a new documentary on Sierra and Heir of the Dog, a new game from Tom Harwidge, developer of extremely well received Lucy Dreaming.

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Cyrus Nemati - Vampire Therapist

Times are difficult for just about everyone these days so it’s only natural that we may need to see a therapist. But what if you were a vampire? Imagine all the traumatic events you would have seen. If anyone would need therapy it would almost certainly be a vampire. And that’s where you come in. Vampire Therapist is a game where you speak to vampires and give real therapy techniques but this time for vampires. This week Seoirse was delighted to catch up with the developer and talented voice actor in his own right, Cyrus Nemati. Cyrus spoke about his different roles in Hades, what therapy techniques we can use in Vampire Therapist and he talks about some of the weird and wonderful characters we meet in his game. All that and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Copychaser Games - Times And Galaxy

Have you ever dreamed of being a reporter? Have you ever thought about how it would feel to have a scoop of a lifetime? Well now you can do just that in Times and Galaxy, a new adventure game where you play an intern roboreporter. To get the scoop on this game Seoirse was joined by the developers at Copychaser Games to find out as much as he could all about what we can expect from the characters, story, gameplay, choices and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Rise of the Dragon Retrospective Review with David Lambert

Rise of the Dragon was a highly ambitious game that in many ways was ahead of its time on its release in 1990. As well as receiving plenty of positive reviews at the time, it also won a Special Award for Artistic Achievement from Computer Gaming World in 1991. In 1996 they also included it as 83rd best game of all time. And yet this game has become largely forgotten nowadays. Very rarely will you see this included in recommended adventure games or sci fi games so, hoping to go some way to rectifying this, Seoirse is joined by newest member of the AGP team, David Lambert, as they both discuss this game in detail including what they enjoyed about the game, what they feel could have been improved and just why they believe this game should be discussed more. So after listening to this episode, why not check the game out on GOG (link below!) and find out why this is a hidden gem!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Reviews of Indika, Open Roads, Duck Detective, Rauniot & more

In another bumper episode Laura aka Cressup goes on the run as a nun as she reviews Indika, Seoirse takes to the roads in Open Roads and he goes to post apocalyptic Finland in Rauniot. Elsewhere Cressup also has time to grow some plants in Botany Manor and Kieran tries to solve the case in No Case Should Remain Unsolved. Finally Seoirse investigates what happened to the secret salami (not a euphemism) in the latest animal detective adventure game The Duck Detective: The Secret Salami. Plus they discuss the latest gaming news including more unfortunate layoffs and a new game announced by Ron Gilbert!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Chris Bateman - Discworld Noir

Lies flow like water but the Truth burns.”

This is just one of many quotable lines from arguably one of the best adventure games ever made. And for this episode Seoirse was delighted to speak to the lead designer of that game, Chris Bateman. Chris spoke about his puzzle philosophy and how it changed throughout the three Discworld games, how he got involved in leading the design of the game and just how involved was Terry Pratchett. He also spoke about his passion project Silk, a game literally like no other game out there. And he also teased what the future may hold for another Discworld game in future. All that and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with James Lightfoot & Steve Horry - Sleepytime Village

In this episode Seoirse chats with James Lightfoot and Steve Horry, developers and writers of upcoming adventure game and comic Sleepytime Village. They talk to Seoirse about how the story of the comic came to me, why James thought it would make a great adventure game, how they are using the art inspired by Steve Horry’s very talented daughter and what rewards you can expect in the Kickstarter. All that and much more!

Read More
Reviews of 80 Days, Hercule Poirot:The First Cases, Murders on the Yangtze River & Case Files: Behind Closed Doors

THERE’S BEEN A MURDER! Or several in fact. Yes indeed this week Seoirse and Kieran review a number of murder mystery games, including the first of the latest Hercule Poirot games as Seoirse gives thoughts on Hercule Poirot: The First Cases. He also reviews new FMV detective game Case Files: Behind Closed Doors and Kieran talks about Murders on the Yangtze River. Finally, in a non murder mystery shocker, Kieran reviews the Inkle classic 80 Days. Is this game as good as everyone says it is? Find it out at the link above!

Read More
Ten Minute Teaser of Interview with Charles Cecil at Reboot Develop Blue 2024

In April 2024 Seoirse was lucky enough to return to Reboot develop Blue in Dubrovnik where he had the chance to speak with Charles Cecil, co-founder and CEO of Revolution Software and lead designer of the Broken Sword series. In this interview Charles spoke about the origins of Broken Sword, why he was remstering the first game, why they launched a Kickstarter, his thoughts on puzzles in adventure games and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Ramon Hamilton - Developer of Case Files Behind Closed Doors

This week Seoirse speaks with Director, Actor and Game developer Ramon Hamilton, who both develops and stars in new FMV game Case Files: Behind closed doors. In this game we play as a detective and we need to guide detective Martin Ruiz (played beautifully by Ramon himself) as he interrogates four potential suspects. Ramon talks to Seoirse about how he filmed and made the game, how he came up with the game mechanics and he gives us a background on the actors who appear in his game. He also talks a little about his two upcoming projects. All that and much more!

Please note Domestic Violence is discussed in this interview and in the game.

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Reviews of Murder on The Orient Express, Twilight Oracle, CLeM, A Twisted Tale & more!

In this bumper episode Seoirse, Cressup and Johnny team up to review a whopping six adventure games and all traditional point and click games as well! Who said they were dead? From a useless vampire to a creepy doll thing to two detective games and a parallel world there is hopefully something for everyone here. So if you like things pointy and clicky then click the Play button and enjoy!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Amber Scott of Only By Midnight

In this episode Seoirse chats with Amber Scott of Only By Midnight. Amber spoke to Seoirse about the studio’s upcoming game, ctrl.alt. DEAL. Where you play as a sentient AI who wants to escape paperclips Company where he is trapped. To do this he will need to enlist the help of the humans at the company. So Amber spoke about what we can expect with the story, the choices we make in the game, the deck building aspects and the puzzles we can solve in order to get the humans to trust and helps us escape. This looks to be a fascinating game that defies genre definition which will be released in early 2025 but in the meantime you can find out more about the game in our interview at the link above and you can wishlist on Steam and sign up to their newsletter at the links below.

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Be a Part of a Closed Beta Team for Times & Galaxy a new adventure game coming out in 2024!

In Times & Galaxy you will play as a Robo reporter intern and this looks like it could be one of the top adventure games of the year. This game is set to be released later in 2024 but you can try this game for free before it’s released. We have teamed up with the developers of this game to give 50 priority spots for listeners to the Adventure Games Podcast. So if you would like to be in with a chance of playing this game before it is released then simply follow the link below and when it asks you for the code type in: ADVENTUREGAMES and then first 50 listenrs who type in this code will be part of the closed beta team. Best of luck!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Preview of Perfect Tides Sequel & Reviews of Chants of Sanaar & The Light in the Darkness

In this new episode Seoirse, Matt and Kieran talk about the latest news including a possible remaster of Discworld and Sam Barlow teasing not one but two news games! Then Matt gives his thoughts on the demo for Perfect Tides: Station to Station, the highly anticipated sequel to hit game Perfect Tides. Then Seoirse reviews two short games including psychological mystery game Looking Up I see Only a Ceiling and game about the Holocaust The Light in the Darkness. Finally Kieran gives his thoughts on an adventure game board game (Yes you read that right!) and Chants of Sanaar, which one could lazily say is Return of the Obra Dinn meets Heaven’s Vault. Is it as good as those two games? Find out in this episode!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
How to Survive as a Solo Dev with Tony Warriner, Dave Gilbert, Charlotte Sutherland & Tom Hardwidge - Live at AdventureX 2023

Back in November 2023 AGP host Seoirse hosted a panel live at AdventureX with four adventure Game legends who were:

- Tony Warriner, Co-founder of Revolution Software and one of the lead developers of Beneath A Steel sky & Broken Sword

- Dave Gilbert, Owner of Wadjet Eye Games and developer of the Blackwell series and Unavowed

- Charlotte Sutherland. Owner of Cave Monsters and developer of Lord Winklebottom Investigates

- Tom Hardwidge, Owner of Tall Story Games and developer of Lucy Dreaming and upcoming Heir of the Dog

Together all four of these developers spoke about their experiences of being a solo developer including how they get their ideas for the games, how they continue to stay motivated and how they continue to stay motivated several years into development and much more! Now available as podcast please enjoy!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with Jack & Joshua from The Adventure Game Hotspot

What is an adventure game? Thats what Seoirse tries to find out as he chats to Jack and Joshua from the Adventure Game Hotspot. He also chats to them about how they got started in the adventure game community, how Jack became editor for Adventuregamers for 17 years(!) and how Joshua started his weird Adventure Gaming Youtube channel. Then they reveal the origins of their new adventure game site, the Adventure Game Hotspot and of course they talk more about what we can all expect from the first adventure game conference in the US, The AG Fan Fair which will see a Sierra reunion and plenty more! All that and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Interview with SFB Games - Developers of Tangle Tower & The Mermaid's Tongue

In this episode Seoirse chats with Tom and Adam Vian from SFB Games about their Detective Grimoire series including their upcoming game The Mermaid’s Tongue in which, amongst other things we learn the origins of detective Grimoire himself! We also find time to talk about their other game they’re developing survival horror Crow Country. But if you, like Seoirse, would like to remove the survival horror part then never fear! Because this game will include an exploration mode so you can play this as an adventure game as well! Everybody wins! All that and much more!

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment
Reviews of The Night is Grey & The Fidelio Incident. Plus new Indiana Jones game revealed!

It’s a new year and with that come new adventure games. Also a person joins the podcast team as Johnny Nyse, from the adventure Games Hotspot makes his podcast debut to discuss two games. First he gives his first impressions on ghost hunting game Conrad Stephenson’s paranormal P.I. and then he and Seoirse discuss new mystery adventure game The Night is Grey. Seoirse also gives his thoughts on the demo of a dungeons and dragons inspired game Tavern Talk and he reviews the walking simulator adventure game The Fidelio Incident. Before all that however they discuss their first impressions on the new gameplay revealed for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Read More
Seoirse DunbarComment