Goblin’s Quest gearing up to get underway

Written by Jack Allin — July 22, 2021 at 09:37

Goblins are usually the bad guys in any fantasy adventure – nasty, foul-tempered scavengers that would just as soon stab you in the back as lend a hand. The same is true in solo developer David Broček's upcoming Goblin's Quest, except here the titular monster just happens to be the "hero" rather than the villain. 

With the Goblin King on his death bed, he promises his entire fortune to anyone who is able to find him a cure. News of this reward reaches a particularly greedy (even by goblin standards)  alchemist's apprentice named Alastar, who knows of an old manuscript that tells of a "formula for the elixir of life that makes you almost immortal." Realizing it holds the secret to unimaginable wealth, all Alastar needs to do is to procure said elixir and get it to the king in time. Of course, that will prove to be easier said than done in an amusingly "idiotic plot" peppered with "strong language and stupid characters" throughout.

Created with the tried-and-true dual-click interface using the AGS engine, Goblin's Quest (not to be confused with Coktel Vision's 1993 puzzler Goblin's Quest 3) offers a stylish pixel art presentation and a relaxing journey filled with exploration, story, dialogues and puzzles to solve. A couple key differences set this game apart from its classic-styled contemporaries, however. The first is that goblins are "rude, greedy, disgusting, evil bastards who think only about themselves," and Alastar is anything but your standard adventure game protagonist. There's also a "semi-open world" to traverse with lots of optional activities outside of the main storyline, including "side quests, hidden characters, card collecting, secret locations," and a "gold system, so players can buy some fun stuff" along the way. 

Production on Goblin's Quest is still at a relatively early stage, so we're not likely to see the full game released before 2023, but those interested in its development can follow its progress through Broček's Twitter account. You can also browse through the indie developer's earlier freeware releases, including the acclaimed mystery adventure Metaphobia,  and perhaps even support his work through his Patreon page in the meantime.