Gamescom 2022 - Roundup

Written by
Laura Cress — September 14, 2022

Some things never change, and so it seemed to be for Gamescom 2022, held once again at the enormous Kolnmesse exhibition center in Cologne, Germany. Even though things were a bit different this year to keep everyone safe from Covid, with booths being a bit further apart and many people wearing face masks, it still reminded me of my first trip to the world's largest gaming event (by size) in 2019. The crowds of happy, excited gamers dressed up in outfits they'd spent months making, queueing up for gigantic booths the size of houses, provided a fantastic atmosphere.

While there may not have been some of the massive companies of years past taking part – both Sony and Nintendo didn't have a presence at the German expo, that simply meant the spotlight was turned on smaller, perhaps even more intriguing games. It was a joy to see Return To Monkey Island get its spot at the kick-off event Opening Game Night Life and reveal its release date (19th September, woohoo). And the Indie Arena Booth was back and bigger than ever, showcasing a whopping 130 games in its 1,500 m2 area – and online, too. So while some may have been disappointed with the lack of big hitters at this year's event, I still had plenty to keep my schedule busy with, much like all those years ago, and keep it alive I did!

Colossal Cave Reimagined by Roberta Williams

Colossal Cave - Reimagined by Roberta Williams sees adventure game icons Roberta and, to a lesser extent Ken Williams, breathe new life into the 1975 text-based title that was the very first of its kind in the genre. At Gamescom, I had a go at the VR edition of the game, for as well as going 3D and being playable on PC and Nintendo Switch, there'll also be a chance to get fully immersed in the game virtually. Movement is simple and effective – in VR, using the left sick to move forward and the right trigger to interact with items. In the non-VR version, it'll all be controlled with one hand, using the mouse to look around, then a right click to change your icon to an eye to look at an object, or another right click to change to a hand icon to pick it up.

Most parts of the landscape and objects are examinable, and if you do choose to click on the eye icon, you'll hear voiced-up excerpts from the original game describing what you see. Most of my demo play-through saw me start my adventure down into the titular caves, and while there was only a straightforward inventory puzzle, I was told there'd be plenty more to discover in the dark and foreboding cave structure. There will be action alongside problems to solve, such as fighting trolls and dragons using weapons or makeshift weapons you've picked up along the way, though it'll still have an inventory-based style. And if you think just venturing into caves for roughly five hours of gameplay (the estimated length) may make for quite a samey environment, then think again. Especially in the VR version, I was struck by how the space squeezed and expanded around me, having to shove my way through tiny holes before breaking into huge, bat-filled, echoey caverns. There won't be too long before you can dive into the depths yourself - Colossal Cave - Reimagined by Roberta Williams, will be released this Fall.

Unusual Findings

Stranger Things seemed to be a bit of a buzzword at this year's Gamescom – quite a few indie games appeared to be drawing inspiration from the hit 80s-based Netflix sci-fi horror series. None more so than Unusual Findings, a 2D pixel-art adventure game set in the 80s following three friends uncovering an alien-like mystery. However, while the inspiration may be pretty obvious, there was something delightful and very polished about the gameplay. As you try to find out what's going on in your small hometown, you swap between three fully voice-acted playable characters at different points throughout the game, the three friends Vinny, Tony, and Nick, one smart, one strong, and one all round.

Excitingly the various dialogue options you choose open up different puzzle paths, with the influence you have or don't have on certain characters shaping how they react to you and do or don't help you. For example, call a particular character chicken, and they won't decide to assist you in getting to a higher point you can't reach later on, meaning you'll have to find another way up. I'm told it'll take about three play-throughs to see all of the content, but with some funny, on-point dialogue, lots of 80s references, and mini-games it sounds like this won't be much of an issue for adventure game lovers. Boot up Unusual Findings on your Commodore 64 (or the platforms it's actually out on, Steam, and all consoles) later this year.

Stories of Blossom

How can we make adventure games, a genre already blessed with some of the most diverse and wonderful people involved (if I say so myself), more accessible? That's what the small Belfast-based team behind Stories of Blossom, Soft Leaf Studios, is setting out to try and solve. It's an adventure game for everybody, but one tested with the disabled community. You play as Clara in three short stories told by her grandfather with storybook illustrations such as astronauts and pirates coming to life in three different, pastel-coloured landscapes.

Disability-friendly features will include plenty of subtitle options, hotspots for blind people to tap on where they'll be able to hear text-to-speech audio descriptions, and different ways of interacting with the game alongside just pointing and clicking. There will still be puzzles to solve, and Stories of Blossom will feature an in-game hint system with narrative recaps and a clear list of goals. In 2022 it seems remarkable that these features aren't more commonplace, so kudos to the team, especially one so small, for doing what many other far larger ones haven't. You'll be able to play Stories of Blossom early next year on Xbox consoles and PC.

(I) Doesn't Exist

Blending the modern with the retro (I) Doesn't Exist may look like your classic hand-drawn text adventure at first glance, but don't be fooled. As I discovered by the end of my demo play-through, there's much more going on here! Playing on ideas of who has control in a video-game (the game's avatar, the game itself, or you, the player?) and how much control is good for you in general, as well as themes of isolation and mental health, there's a lot to take in. The team has also introduced a conversational AI to the game, meaning that as more people play, it will recognise different words for the same thing. The first act will play a lot like the 80s hit text adventure Zork though there won't just be walls of text but also pixel animations showing your landscape and character taking up a fair amount of the screen. The team told me acts two and three will take a bit of a different turn – and given the intriguing concept, I can't wait to find out what precisely that means when (I) Doesn't Exist is released sometime next year on PC and Mac.

The Past Within (Rusty Lake Series)

If there's one series at Gamescom's Indie Arena Booth that always attracts a crowd of devoted fans, it's that of the surreal and mysterious escape-room adventure games Rusty Lake. The team is bringing something extraordinary out sometime in fall this year, though – while fans can still expect the series' traditional brand of creepiness, this time, rather than a single-player experience, it'll all be cooperative play. Two players will have to work together to resurrect a character known from the previous games. One player plays in “the past” (in 2D), while the other player plays in “the future” (in 3D). What this means is a lot of communicating with one another to solve puzzles – and while there won't be a voice chat option in the game, the team will be offering matchmaking with those who don't have a trustworthy companion to help them out in their Discord server. There will be about two and a half hours of gameplay, but players will be encouraged to play both sides of the story. Get ready to painfully try and describe obscure objects and weird symbols to your friends when The Past Within comes out this Fall on PC, IOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.

Farewell North

Animal protagonist-based games may be all the rage after this year's platforming adventure hit Stray. Still, while you play as a helpful collie dog in Farewell North, this has a more reflective, spiritual slant than others. Traveling with your owner, you'll help bring colour – figuratively and literally - to the world as your human companion deals with her emotional journey. You'll explore a chain of islands inspired by the Scottish highlands (a nice, original touch), solving perspective and colour-based puzzles to reveal hidden objects and paths and break down obstacles stopping you from progressing. The controls are simple – and yes, there is a button to bark - allowing for the emotional story and beautiful 3D landscapes to take centre stage. You can get your paws on Farewell North on PC in Q4 2022/Q1 2023.

Universe for Sale

In this beautiful sci-fi hand-drawn adventure game inspired by European comics, you play Lila, who, as the title may suggest, sells universes. It's a simple game with no inventory or tutorial - instead, it's all about exploring the bazaars of the planet Jupiter, meeting its characters, and making your own stories, with Lila's powers to create entire planets and solar systems. There will be mini-games and plenty of text-based dialogue, with the art taking a leaf from the Asterix and Obelix comics style compared to the anime or manga that many interactive novel style games look to instead, with an added sci-fi twist. Get ready to create your perfect world in 2023 when the game comes to PC, Mac, and all consoles.

Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099

Fans of the original surveillance life simulation game Do Not Feed The Monkeys, rejoice! It's back, but this time, set in the future – 2099, to be exact. Once again, you'll play a digital voyeur where you watch animated strangers through surveillance cameras, this time as part of a mysterious and elite hacking group. You'll need to discover your subject's secrets and sell them for more money to buy more cameras or “cages” for your unsuspecting public or “monkeys”. As mentioned, there'll be a futuristic setting to explore, with humans, robots, and aliens all living together in a dystopian world where Earth is barren and big corporations sponsor planets. There's also new technology befitting the era, such as an Alexa-style personal digital assistant that will play out as another window to the story of the outside world. As ever, the game insists you don't interact with your subjects or “feed the monkeys” - but it'll be up to you to decide whether you obey or resist when the game comes out on PC early next year.

Backfirewall

This 3D first-person adventure is set inside a smartphone, and you play its update assistant. Things aren't as simple as they seem, though – as the phone's (voice-acted) OS explains, if you go about your one and only job and update the phone, it will delete you and the OS. Thus starts a somewhat meta, Stanley Parable-esque adventure which sees you navigate the phone's various areas, RAM, speakers, WI-FI, etc. as you try to stop the update from happening. As you explore, you'll have to solve puzzles and use cheat codes to manipulate the environment around you, while also discovering collectibles in the forms of snippets of conversation from the outside world of the User (hilariously, seemingly from the demo mostly angsty social media messages to crushes). I enjoyed the game's sarcastic humour and very meta take on narrative, and I can't wait to go further down the technological rabbit hole when it's released this Fall on PC and all consoles.

Birth

A game inspired by the 2D art-style and visual puzzles of the Rusty Lake series, Birth sees you create a creature from the bones and organs you find around the city you live in to feel less lonely...as you do! It was inspired by developer Madison Karrh's feelings of loneliness when she originally moved to Chicago, fueled by her desire to look inside distant people's lives during the pandemic. The game has a quirky, surreal feel, rather than feeling too based on the real world (I also don’t believe Madison tried to create a creature made out of various bones and organs, either). You'll have to solve physics-based puzzles by tapping and moving objects and characters hidden in the city's multiple locations to uncover those much-needed bones and squishy organs. So if you're looking for another Rusty Lake-style fix after The Past Within comes out, it's worth keeping an eye (not literally!) out for Birth when it comes to PC in January 2023.

Application Systems Heidelberg

The Application Systems Heidelberg team again had a strong showing at the Indie Arena Booth with four games to try out. Prim, a quirky 2D point-and-click adventure game where you play as Death's rebellious daughter, is coming to PC, Linux, and Mac in 2023. Meanwhile, a much shorter pixel-art 2D point-and-click game, The Plague Doctor of Wippra, should be coming out this Fall on the same platforms. 

Another title that’s to be expected is, We Stay Behind (previously called Resort), a single-player third-person mystery. In it, you play a journalist investigating a small American town's community who refuses to leave despite being on the trajectory of a falling comet.  We Stay Behind is coming to Mac and PC early next year.

Finally, I saw the much-anticipated Western adventure Rosewater by the very talented Francisco Gonzalez. In Rosewater you play as a freelance writer exploring a Western-inspired world set in the alternate 19th-century universe of Francisco's previous game Lamplight City will be yee-hawing its way onto PC in 2023.