As we work backwards towards present day, our five-year Following Freeware anniversary extravaganza reaches 2013-2014. For those joining in late, be sure to check out our Year One, Year Two, and Year Three recaps to get up to speed.
August 2013 – Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher by Chief Wakamakamu
The Ace Attorney series has allowed players to be courtroom dynamos, though not in any courtroom I’d ever like to end up in for real. Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher takes the essential mechanics of those games but applies them to an entirely different arena. When a salesman comes calling, Socrates almost finds himself convinced by the pitch. Fortunately, his daughter is a philosophy student who teaches him the basics of philosophical debate to challenge this man’s assertions. This tutorial leaves her late for school, so the pair drive off at speed. A subsequent accident propels them into the afterlife in the form of the Intelligible Realm, last resting place of philosophers.
You can cry “Nonsense!” and prove your debating credentials online over on Kongregate.
September 2013 – The House by Artur Kot
Often when putting the Following Freeware articles together I find games that I think are worth sharing but don’t fit the criteria. Usually, if they at least have some relevance, these will appear as one-line descriptions in the “Other games” section at the end. Less often I will do a full write-up, but put them lower in the article, so as not to overshadow more traditional adventures released that month. Such was the case with The House, a game with a beautiful artistic style but probably too abstract to be considered a proper adventure.
If you fancy exploring an extremely peculiar house, it can be found online over at Newgrounds.
October 2013 – Monty the Komodo Dragon by Fitz
It is always a lot easier to get into a game if the player character has a clear goal from the outset. You could be a young man who wants to be a mighty pirate, an archaeologist seeking a lost treasure, or a reaper aiming to meet quota. In Monty the Komodo Dragon, the lead character just wants to provide food for his family. This is probably the most normal thing about the game, however, with almost every other aspect being decidedly surreal.
You too can search for food on a sea of worms by taking a trip over to the AGS database.
November 2013 – The Loop by Gliese Productions
As a general rule, we don’t cover visual novels in our monthly round-ups. The main reason for this is that player interactivity is normally very limited. You read a big chunk of text and are then given a single decision that will nudge the story a bit. At first sight, The Loop looked like it would be just another linear visual novel. However, Gliese Productions saw that the programming language used in the Ren’Py engine allowed something much more complex and capitalised on the opportunity. The result is a nightmarish tale of a demonic clown with whom you seem to be trapped in a series of dream-like loops.
If you want to see something different done within the visual novel format, you can download this game from the developer’s website.
December 2013 – Heroine’s Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok by Crystal Shard
A number of good freeware developers go on to develop commercial games. I grumble good-naturedly about this, bemoaning the fact that I won’t have their games to enjoy for future articles. In reality I am pleased when those who have demonstrated such skill in freeware go on to make a living from that ability. Then I come across a game like Heroine’s Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok and I question why the developers are not already making a living from their work. When the imminent release of the game was announced at Adventure X 2013, I found I wasn’t the only one. When asked how much they were selling it for, the answer that it was free was met with stunned silence.
Despite the surprised reaction it elicits, this game continues to be available for free. Grab it from one of the links on the developer’s website before they change their mind.
January 2014 – Ossuary: The Hodge-Podge Transformer by Future Proof Games
Demos are, by their very nature, free. Usually they are just a small part of the full game, however, and therefore don’t work on their own. Ossuary: The Hodge-Podge Transformer is an exception to this rule. Whilst it serves very effectively in conveying the look and feel of the full Ossuary, it is also a legitimate adventure in its own right. In this game you enter a strange philosophical world that provides interesting challenges for those willing to grasp its weird logic. Trapped in a peculiar dimension, your only means of escape is activating the eponymous Transformer. Acquiring all the necessary elements to do so is your quest.
Should you wish to enter the Transformer yourself, you can do so over at the developer’s website.
February 2014 – Freja and the Sequel by Biscuit Placebo
When a game is really good, it is easy for the player to find themselves lost in its world. Freja and the Sequel takes that feeling very literally. A long-time fan of the “Crystal Raven” series of games, Freja is delighted to get an interview at the studio that makes them. When a man with a bomb interrupts her interview to demand a sequel, Freja is placed in charge of its development. She soon finds herself slipping between the reality of the game studio and the fantasy world of the games themselves, though she is surprisingly relaxed about it.
Stepping into a peculiar game world is as easy as stepping over to the developer’s website and downloading the game.
March 2014 – Bickadoodle by Aetheric Games
The classic storylines have endured for a reason. Who can resist a tale of a princess in a tower and a knight coming to rescue her? At least, that is how it looks like things are headed at the outset of Bickadoodle. Things take a decidedly unusual turn, however, when the dragon ends up kidnapping the knight instead of the princess. Not one to be denied her happy ending, the princess sets out on a quest to rescue him. The subsequent tale of noble deeds and bravery is very much tongue-in-cheek, and done with a lot of style.
Becoming a brave damsel rescuing a knight in distress is easy. Just head on over to the developer’s website to download the game.
April 2014 – Dreaming Mary by Dreaming Games
You should never judge a book by its cover, or a game by the graphics of its opening scenes. Dreaming Mary is a prime illustration of this maxim. The opening scenes are of a fluffy pink dream world, inhabited by a pretty little girl and her anthropomorphic animal friends. In fact, but for a mildly disconcerting encounter near the end, it is possible to play through the entire game thinking this a happy tale. You might even think that it is a suitable game for little children to play. Let me assure you that this is most definitely not the case.
To delve into the darker side of the world of dreams, download the game from the developer’s website.
May 2014 – RoonSehv by Babel Studio
The Myst series is one that has long divided the adventuring community. It seems there is no middle ground, with people either loving or hating it. Since it was explicitly created as a new world in the Myst mythos, RoonSehv is likely to elicit the same reaction. Those who favour these sorts of games are in for a treat, as the designers have gone all out in recreating the original style with a modern look. Making full use of the Unreal Development Kit to create a real-time 3D environment, this is a self-described labour of love that appears to have achieved its aims. The finishing touches weren’t put on the full version for another year, but an impressive demo gave us a substantial first glimpse of this long-in-development fan creation.
Myst fans can explore this new Age by downloading the game from the developer’s website.
June 2014 – SCRAP by DividebyZer0team
One thing I’ve always enjoyed about freeware games is that they often use ideas that might be tough to make commercial. Such is the case with SCRAP, where the player character is a Roomba automatic vacuum cleaner trying to find its way home. Neither the protagonist nor the quest are the stuff of grand adventure, but the resulting tale is an enjoyable one. It’s hard to imagine that you could start to feel for a machine, but this game managed to achieve that for me. I truly empathised with this little device struggling to do its duty, and felt invested in seeing it safely through.
To guide this brave little machine on its personal quest for home, direct your browser over to Newgrounds.
July 2014 – OneShot by Mathew Velasquez
Just because a game engine has a particular genre in its name doesn’t mean that’s all that can be done with it. The RPG Maker 2003 engine has been used time and again to make compelling adventure games. This includes OneShot, a fantasy game that often blurs the lines between game world and reality. The look may be reminiscent of the classic grid-based role-playing games, but the gameplay is pure adventure all the way through. OneShot lives up to its title as well. You can only save and exit the game at certain specific points, one in each world of the game. As you are warned at the start, quitting at any other time will permanently kill the protagonist, Niko.
To find out what it looks like when an RPG is not an RPG, download the game from the RPG Maker website.