This month you can investigate the deaths of three teenage girls, look into a boat accident, or deduce the hidden thoughts of a friend. You could also take on the role of a daring female pilot, a band roadie with a terrible hangover, or a famous psychiatrist pushed over the edge. Alternatively, you might aid a star in returning to the heavens, assist a group of spirits into the afterlife, or try to access help for your own spirit by committing new sins. Finally, you may find yourself stuck in a deadly time-loop, or share key moments across a lifetime as friends meet in the same place over the course of many years. All these await you in this month’s round-up of releases from the freeware scene.
Steve’s Selections
Jacqueline White: Curse of the Mummies
The year is 1923, and famed aviatrix Jacqueline White is in Egypt. Still haunted by nightmares of her time flying over the Somme during the First World War, her dreams have recently taken a new shift, with her deceased co-pilot appearing to warn her of the three kings. When her quest to rescue a little girl leads her to descend into a long-lost set of caverns beneath the desert sands, she may have uncovered more than a simple archaeological curiosity. With a final resting place missing its occupant, could a legendary being of evil truly have risen to terrorise the world again?
The game is entirely mouse-controlled, with four interactive cursors consisting of walk, look, interact and talk, which can be cycled through using the right button. Conversing with the people in town will reveal your first objective to fix a wind-powered generator. Once you have accomplished this task, a local will arrive seeking help retrieving his daughter who has fallen down a well. Your exploration of the caverns below the well forms a substantial part of the game, and in the process sets up major story elements. The tomb is found there and features a number of complex mechanisms blocking the way forward. Most of these are standalone puzzles, though some require clever use of inventory. The challenges are varied, including such things as placing statues correctly and manipulating dials. There is also an optional flight simulator and an action scene. The latter can be skipped, and has variable difficulty settings for those who do attempt it. The overall tone is light but serious, with hints of the greater story planned to finish the tale.
Jacqueline White: Curse of the Mummies can be downloaded from the AGS website.
Sins of Daisy
Three teenage schoolgirls lay dead, apparently the result of a suicide pact. But post mortem results indicate there may be more to the affair. Regretting his hasty assessment of the situation, the local police chief, Birch, hires well-respected private investigator Quinn to look into the matter further. As the bodies were found in the home of one of the girls, that seems the obvious place to start looking. But as he delves deeper into the events of that fateful day, Quinn may end up uncovering more than he bargained for.
Control is handled either through keyboard or left-mouse clicks. Given the nature of the case, the tone is mostly dark, and there are some shocking inferences along the way. You will need to look for clues around the house, and later find a way to get into a location you have been barred from. There are a handful of major decision points throughout the story, with an alert to warn players of their importance. The decisions made in these moments have a major effect on which of the game’s three endings you get. The main mystery is resolved in these three instalments, though there is a bit of a cliffhanger ending regardless, and a fourth instalment is expected out imminently.
Sins of Daisy can be downloaded from Game Jolt.
Adventure Jam
Game Jolt’s Adventure Jam was held in May, and despite only giving contestants two weeks to make a game, the event still managed to attract an astonishing 162 entries. With no strict rules on content, the many submissions showed an interesting variety in approaching the challenge. Full 3D games stood alongside completely 2D offerings, and serious stories bumped shoulders with the surreally humorous. Voting for the competition ran into June, with a range of different categories on offer as well as an overall prize.
The full list of entries, with links to download them all, can be found on the competition page. Whilst we could not cover all the entries, here is a round-up of the top ten games in the final list, excluding the two that don’t meet our definition of adventure.
Wagner and the Third Light: Episode 1 by jameela_01
The ship Bolena has suffered a terrible accident, foundering in the local harbour. Fisherman’s Widows, the company that insured the ship, is facing a huge payout from the incident, and local agent Ed is not looking forward to it. Enlisting the help of private investigator Wagner, Ed hopes to prove that the ship itself was at fault, freeing the insurance company from any legal obligations. With his trusty filing cabinet Phil by his side, Wagner sets out to find out the truth.
The stylised nature of the characters may have been a deliberate choice, as this game has a decidedly surreal tone. Single mouse clicks perform all controls, with a small verb coin appearing when you click. Wagner’s partner Phil is decidedly out of the ordinary, and Wagner himself speaks in a most peculiar fashion. When you start, only a handful of locations are available on the in-game map, but more open up as you speak to other characters. As indicated by the title, the mystery is not entirely resolved in this debut instalment, with the author promising more to come now that the competition has ended.
The Diary of a Roadie by Common Colors
Waking up in a pool of your own (at least you hope it’s your own) vomit is never a good start to the day. When you are a roadie who is already supposed to be setting up for the band, it can be even more brutal. Unfortunately, you seem to have ended up with the lead singer’s backstage pass instead of yours, and the doorman won’t let you in. If only you could reconstruct your activity from the night before, you might be able to find your own pass and get on with the job.
Dead Man’s Crossing by A W Findlay
The Wild West town of Dead Man’s Crossing obtained its name from a terrible train wreck that happened there. All aboard the train were killed on that fateful day, and they say that if you listen carefully, you can still hear the train repeating its last journey over and over. As the ghostly guard on that train, you know this rumour to be true. Seeing yourself as the custodian of the train, you consider it your job to ensure the passengers complete whatever final business they have on Earth. Only when they have moved on to what lies beyond will you be able to rest yourself.
Four Last Things by Joe Richardson
You travelled long and far to confess your sins at a magnificent church. Unfortunately, the guardian of the only path down to the edifice informs you of a problem with your plan, namely that your sins were committed outside the area served by this ecclesiastical establishment, and he cannot permit you to confess them here. If you want to access the church, then you are going to have to commit new sins to confess instead. Unwilling to simply turn back from your journey, you set out to investigate how you can apply the seven deadly sins nearby.
If you like what you see of the free download version, the developer is running a Kickstarter campaign until July 28th to expand on the idea introduced here.
Awake by Storyyeller Games
This was supposed to be a pleasant trip to the woods by the lake. The only people you thought were in this remote idyllic spot were you and your girlfriend, but it seems you are not as alone as you expected. Knocked unconscious, you find yourself driven away from your serene campsite and dumped unceremoniously into deep water in a container to drown. Just as you are about to suffer a horrible death, you jerk awake back in the caravan. Yet you have not escaped this nightmare. As you live through the same events over and over, you must find a way to break the cycle and save your life.
Strolling by Beavl
Pedro and Mariano were just walking through a street in Buenos Aires when Pedro spontaneously agreed with Mariano’s thoughts. Stunned that his friend was able to tell what he was thinking, Mariano asks how the trick was done. Rewinding their journey down the street, Pedro points out the observations and thought processes that led him to that point. Can you do the same?
Esther and the Fallen Star by Rodrigo Diaz
When she hears a noise outside in the middle of the night, little Esther goes to investigate. Out in the garden she finds a small shining creature that claims to be a star. Sadly, this star finds itself trapped on Earth, not having the power to launch itself back into the sky. Eager to help, Esther is sure that with a bit of ingenuity she can construct a way to help put the star back where it belongs.
Nothing Can Stop Us by Demigiant
Two friends meet again and again on a hill overlooking a valley. Over the many years of visits, the valley changes in appearance. What starts as a secret oasis of greenery that is known only to them later becomes the site of a bustling town instead. The valley is not the only thing that changes either, with the two friends having their ups and downs over the years. With secrets revealed and discussions shared of the challenges life has thrown their way since last time, nothing can stop them meeting together in that special place.
Willem’s Honourable Adventure Jam Mention
Frasier Crane: Seattle Rampage
As any Cheers and Frasier fan knows, Frasier Crane is a renowned psychiatrist who earns his living hosting a popular radio show. He loves to read and muse about the classics like Dostoyevsky and Edgar Allan Poe in his spare time. Lately, however, he is often distracted by his father Martin, who has recently moved in and loves to watch sports on the telly, sitting in his hideous sofa that stands as an eyesore between the lovingly sculptured furnishings Frasier has collected over the years. And on top of all that, his father also brought his little mongrel Eddie, who often stares at Frasier. Grudgingly, Frasier bears his fate until, on a certain bad day, something snaps...
Using only the mouse, right-clicking cycles a number of actions and the inventory item you're holding, and left-clicking performs the desired action. The game is cunningly constructed in such a way that you can only hold one item at a time, and you will have used that object before needing to use anything else. The puzzles are mostly inventory-based, and the first one you have to solve – getting Martin away from the telly – is the hardest. After that the story unfolds naturally in quite a sinister and funny way.
Frasier Crane: Seattle Rampage can be downloaded from Game Jolt.
Other new releases
Not all games are created equal, and freeware games especially come in all shapes and sizes. Not to be overlooked, the following list might also be of interest, though these games may be significantly shorter or less polished, more experimental titles than those detailed above, some perhaps only borderline adventures to begin with.
Medieval Cop: The Invidia Games – Part 1 by VasantJ – Grumpy cop Dregg finds himself reluctantly representing his country against the rest of the continent. Part 2 and Part 3 are also available.
Forgotten Hill: Puppeteer by FM-Studio – When your girlfriend goes missing near Forgotten Hill, the local puppet show seems the only place to look in this horror game.
Love Chase by Carmel Games – After being simultaneously sacked and dumped, Chase goes looking for a new life and new love.
Blackudder: To Doubloon or Not to Doubloon by slasher – Lord Blackudder seeks out a lost Spanish galleon in the hope of finding treasure and a present for the queen.
That’s it for this month. Think we’ve missed a gem or want to tell us about your own game? Then pop in to our Adventure forum and tell us about it!
Article written by Stephen Brown and Willem Tjerkstra.