Review for The Will of Arthur Flabbington

It was my pleasure and privilege to play Gugames’ The Will of Arthur Flabbington. Expertly drawn pixel-art graphics transport players to a brightly colored world. Smoothly animated, fully voiced characters populate it. They are participants in an amusing, well-written story, where a treasure hunt and deteriorating friendship impart a valuable lesson. An accessible point-and-click interface ensures that the player has the starring role in this splendid game. 

Arthur Flabbington is dead. He left a hidden bounty for two of his friends, Ada and John, hoping that finding it would give them the means to heal their broken friendship. Slightly miffed at being left out, Arthur’s nephew Jack decides to find the treasure before they do. He’s so aggravated, he contacts a medium to tell off his dead uncle. The medium hears the wrong name and contacts the wrong Arthur. Thus begins the story of The Will of Arthur Flabbington. What follows is an engaging tale, full of droll humor and ghostly antics, that dabbles in the sticky aspects of selfishness and greed. 

The vibrant, pixel-art visuals are filled with eccentric, appealingly voiced characters that I wanted to know better. The two most interesting are the player character, Jack and his spectral companion, Artie. The humorous, sarcastic interplay between them spices up an already appetizing story. My favorite location, the park, is full of lively blues, greens, and yellows that embellish its grassy verges and rocky lakeside. Perky, quick-tempo electronic music adds to the game’s lighthearted atmosphere.

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The player controls the actions of Jack and his companion Artie with the mouse. Left-clicking on a specific spot on-screen moves Jack to that location. The cursor changes to a hand icon when you can pick up items. Left-clicking on another character activates a list of questions that Jack can ask to learn more about his adventure. If Jack talks to Artie, his ghost companion, and says “Help me recap our adventure," Artie will recap the adventure so far through answering Jack's questions. If the player right-clicks on the screen, Jack will look at the selected spot and describe what he sees there. Jack’s inventory can be accessed by pointing the mouse at the top of the screen, left-clicking to select an object, and left-clicking on the spot where it’s meant to be used. The player may switch between Artie and Jack by clicking on either of their faces on the lower-left corner of the screen. 

Players are fortunate that using the interface is so easy. They will need their brainpower for the puzzles. They are challenging but always fit the story. It’s possible for Artie the ghost to possess various characters, which is an entertaining, ingenious solution to certain conundrums. My favorite involved having Artie possess an athlete and then tap his muscles to lift a certain heavy object. It was fun trying to possess every character in the game, simply to see what would happen.

The Will of Arthur Flabbington is a spectacular adventure game. It uses adeptly crafted writing and scene setting to tell a wonderfully zany story with a great moral. I happily recommend it to any adventurer.