The Aggie Awards – The Best Adventure Games of 2022 page 13
Best Non-Traditional Adventure: NORCO
NORCO, is a genre-bending point-and-click adventure game set in Louisiana that tells a southern gothic story of human resilience in the face of corporate greed. As Kay, you navigate swamps, robots, and cults in a quest to piece together the puzzle of your mother’s escapades and your brother’s disappearance. The game's modern or sci-fi take on the state eschews the usual voodoo culture and black magic to create a unique experience that challenges traditional genre conventions.
The game's highly detailed pixel art style and sound design make for a highly immersive experience. The music is extremely diverse, easily zipping between genres, and the sound effects and animations bring the static screens to life. The game's Mindmap is a useful interface that lets you keep track of the story and characters. Although there are few puzzles, the challenges that are there are terrifically varied and clever. NORCO is a narrative masterpiece that offers adventure fans a deep and satisfying experience.
Runners-Up:
Readers’ Choice: Stray
Stray won the Readers' Choice award for Best Non-Traditional Adventure due to its playful and joyful gameplay, intriguing sci-fi story, and loveable, if naughty, ginger kitty protagonist. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the game follows the cat as it explores overgrown wastelands and befriends a group of friendly, cautious robots who are terrorized by parasitic enemies. The game's controls are simple and intuitive, and there is plenty of exploration, side quests, and light puzzle-solving. Stray's world is beautifully detailed, with stunning vistas and a minimalistic soundtrack that creates an immersive environment.
Runners-Up:
Next up: Best Traditional Adventure... the envelope, please!
Continued on the next page...
