The year is 1891. Anthony Beechworth, alone in his mansion's attic, hangs himself. A final letter that he has mailed to his lifelong friend, J. Devitt, arrives with only the phrase "Videte ne quis sciat" scrawled across the page. Devitt recognizes this code from their time spent together at a school for scientific study, and that Beechworth must be in trouble. He leaves immediately to find his friend and offer his support, putting in motion the first events of The Last Door: Chapter One - The Letter.
With the Deponia series coming to a close this year, a lot of adventure fans are understandably concerned. It's not every day a great adventure game is released, and the first two Deponia titles were some of the best in recent years. The good news is that developer Daedalic is hard at work on yet another adventure game, and the great news is that it appears to be coming along wonderfully. The bad news is… well, there is no bad news.
The Kickstarter launch for "Double Fine Adventure" last year took the internet by storm, reaching its $400,000 goal in a mere eight hours, and going on to earn over $3 million in 30 days. Although Double Fine has been keeping its 90,000 backers informed of developments on the now-officially titled Broken Age via videos and blog posts, the rest of the world has been largely unaware of how the adventure game is shaping up. We now have a little more to chew on, thanks to the first public reveal trailer and website launched last week.
Fetch is a point and click action adventure game from Big Fish Games, wherein you play as a boy out to retrieve his lost dog after an evil mastermind manages to steal it. As you know, messing with a boy and his dog is grounds for serious consequences, and with Gamezebo's strategy guide you'll have all you need to master and complete the game.
Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold is a point-and-click adventure game created by Replay Games. In this first episode, you will help Fester track down his brother by collecting items, interacting with characters, and solving puzzles involving both of these activities. Gamezebo's full walkthrough will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to play your best game.
Although point-and-click adventure games seem to be making a comeback recently, with stellar entries like the Deponia series and The Silent Age combining modern aesthetics with classic gameplay, we have yet to hit upon another Renaissance of the genre. Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold recognizes this with its opening directive and acknowledgement: "This game is a tribute to the golden era of adventure gaming," which is hardly a reference to 2013.
Are games art? Am I pretentious for asking that question? The answer, on both accounts, is yes. And while I'd much rather avoid the topic altogether, it can't really be helped with Fetch, a point-and-click adventure game for the iPad. It's currently part of a featured exhibit at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), where people can get a glimpse into its development cycle and other behind-the-scenes goodness. Take that, Roger Ebert!
If there's one thing the iTunes App Store could always use more of, it's sci-fi horror games. These are the games that make us stay up playing them at all hours of the night, and then be thankful that our iPads have a nice and safe backlight for after we're done. Well lucky for us, we now have an ambitious new episodic horror-adventure game called Abducted to look forward to.