The Adventures Strike Back

CROWNS AND PAWNS: KINGDOM OF DECEIT (2022) – Tag of Joy/Head Up

We now move on to even more classic forms, with Lithuanian development team Tag Of Joy presenting their first adventure game, Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit. A game that seems obviously influenced by both Broken Sword and Animation Arts' Secret Files series, especially from the first impressions created by the visuals.

After all, the game's premise deals with non-crowned kings, an American protagonist with Lithuanian roots who suddenly inherits a house there from her grandfather and is hounded by various former KGB agents to prevent her from accepting the inheritance. Ordinary, everyday stuff.

On the other hand, its puzzles will contain a bit of everything: inventory-based, dialogue-based and even mini-games will be included, although the latter always sounds a bit risky.

Crowns and Pawns is expected within the next year, but it is not clear exactly what quarter it will be ready. Logically, based on the current stage of development, it shouldn't be long, and you can already get a taste by playing its demo, which can be found on the Steam page.

THE SUNDEW (2021?) – 2054

Cyberpunk never dies and Ms. Agnes Vuillaume who is the sole member of the 2054 development "team" makes sure to remind us again.

Being several years in development, The Sundew takes us to a futuristic and dark environment of Japan in the salvageable year 2054. Our genetically "enhanced" protagonist is Anna Isobe, a woman who typically works as a police officer, but her cyber-plants are technologically outdated. The world now relies entirely on machines, which resolutely carry out any order without further question, and the existence of cyborgs tends to become taboo.

But no matter how much she is underestimated, Anna remains stubbornly loyal to her duty, which will lead her to many interesting revelations about the evolution of humanity that a machine would be unable to accept as much as she deserves.

The game opts for a pixelart aesthetic to tell its story, which isn't the best we've ever seen, but it's on a very satisfying level. Beyond that, the low production values, a result of the one-(wo)man project, are also evident by the lack of voice-over, but obviously we won't spoil it there. What intrigues us and prompted us to add the game to this list is its atmosphere and mysterious premise, which we hope will be accompanied by an equally remarkable "adventure" gameplay.

The release date is set for summer 2021, but because that's almost over, it will either suddenly appear in September this year or get another delay. Its demo remains available, however.

UNUSUAL FINDINGS (2021) – Epic Llama/Buka Entertainment

After the sweeping success of the TV series Stranger Things, the 80's overnight became a "cool" era to mention in your product in every way possible. It's no surprise that a related adventure is being created that "steps on" and pays homage to the films that marked the decade: the Goonies, The Lost Boys, Aliens, Terminator and no end in sight.

The Unusual Findings "smells" 80s from top to bottom. On the one hand with its audiovisual section, reminiscent of a game on the legendary Amiga 500, and on the other with its premise, which involves a group of three boys who, coincidentally, are the only people in the world who realize that something supernatural is plaguing the area.

The promise of Epic team creator Llama for an ideal marriage of the classic point 'n' click gameplay with a special "friendship" system that is influenced by our choice & consequence decisions, make up a game that may become the surprise of the year for the genre. Of course, if it manages to be released in 2021.

The over-thirties will hardly leave it off their wishlist, unless they belong to those who watch an adventure game playing and get pimples.

PRIM (Q4 2022) – Common Colors

Another adventure that comes from a successful Kickstarter campaign, which was certainly helped by the wonderful artwork, deeply influenced by the works of Tim Burton.

Common Colors's Prim is interesting beyond its black-and-white, a la Ed Wood, approach. After all, we don't recall ever before having the good fortune to be in control of... Death's teenage daughter. The damsel named Prim even has nightmares, as every night in her sleep (is Death ever asleep?) she sees a small and strangely familiar boy asking for help.

Prim has not yet inherited her father's cynicism, she still has feelings, so her first thought is to seek out the boy. Except there's a serious problem: the boy is alive. Consequently, she will have to leave Land of the Dead and travel to that of the Living, something Death has strictly forbidden. But what teenager listens to his parents? And as usual, disobedience in such cases has incalculable consequences

If anything, the game has an interesting perspective and predisposes for a high quality adventure, which on top of that will incorporate all the quality of life additions one would expect (hot-spot indicator, fast travel, hint-system etc.).

Admittedly, Prim still has a lot of work ahead of it to say more, as the expected release date is December 2022. Just the thing for before Christmas.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

With more emphasis on the choice & consequence approach than the traditional point 'n' click, the psychological thriller Saint Kotar looks great in its bleak atmosphere.

Elroy and the Aliens (TBA) – Motiviti: A humorous adventure featuring a scientist looking for his father, Elroy and the Aliens looks quite promising for a few hours of quality adventure entertainment.

Port Valley (2021) – WrongPixel: A story that unfolds through the eyes of three different people and with old-school JRPG-like graphics, Port Valley could prove to be a hidden gem.

Nine Noir Lives (Q1 2022) – Silvernode Studios: detective-noir story starring a...cat? Take my money! Okay, Cuddles Nutterbutter isn't exactly Blacksad, but that doesn't stop him from starring in an interesting (hopefully) adventure.

Season of the Warlock (TBA) – enComplot: The truth is that we were a bit scared when we first saw the characters in the game, but after a while we got over it. Mystery, wizards and black magic, two different protagonists, the carrot was delicious.

Near Mage (TBA) - Stuck in Attic: From the creators of Gibbous, the Romanian team's next project looks very ambitious and interesting, but we're a long way from its release, being scheduled for February 2023. I'm sure we'll be back, but it would be unacceptable not to mention it in this feature, even briefly.

Syberia: The World Before (10/12/2021) – Koalabs/Microids: Το Syberia 3 ήταν μια απογοήτευση, οπότε κατά συνέπεια κρατάμε πολύ μικρό καλάθι για το 4^. μέλος της σειράς. Η παρουσία του εδώ βρίσκεται περισσότερο ως τιμής ένεκεν για το κύκνειο άσμα του αποθανόντα Benoit Sokal, μακάρι να μας διαψεύσει θετικά και να αποτελέσει ένα sequel αντάξιο των δύο πρώτων Syberia.

Watch Over Christmas (Q4 2021) - Dionous Games: From the Greek creators of the wonderful Not Another Weekend, Watch Over Christmas takes us into a Christmas tale where 12-year-old Cisco discovers that Santa Claus has been kidnapped and Christmas is in danger! From Dionous Games, we expect nothing less than a high quality traditional adventure.