Call of Fries

Still want fries with that?

Never thought I'd get pwnd by a fry, of all digitally simulated entities out there. Oh well.

Keepsake

Suspiria, anyone?

Not the (rather incomprehensible) recent remake, but Dario Argento's original 1970 masterpiece about a ballet student arriving at a dance academy which is actually a witch coven. Keepsake is a lovely vintage adeventure game that seems to be using an engine similar to the one another, older classic game, Sanitarium, was made with. Throughout the evolution of the plot, there are many winks at Argento's visionary thriller, although the general atmosphere and spirit are quite different.

UrbsTopia Tarot Decks

Urban utopias & dystopias

A city (urbs in Latin, hence the adjective "urban") is a miniature universe, a unit mirroring a totality; a living, evolving microcosm with its own internal, intrinsic and intricate rules and laws, the mysteries and secrets that haunt it, the tales and legends that define it.

Gabriel Knight 1 - Sins of the Fathers (20th Anniversary Edition)

And there was light

The first time (about a decade and a half ago) that I attempted to install Sins of the Fathers on my then Windows 98 SE PC, I was met with bitter disappointment; the game just refused to run properly, defying any and all workarounds. It was only in 2015 - thanks to its drastically revamped, 20 year anniversary edition distributed on Steam - that I finally got to play this legendary adventure, rightfully considered as a cornerstone in its genre.

Serena

Twists of plot, twists of fate

A nice, atmospheric little game telling the story of a failed writer who finds himself locked in a wooden house in the forest, unable to remember his recent past. An exploration of his surroundings gives him some clues which make him doubt his own actions and motives. Serena seems to be his wife, who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. But what exactly happened to her, and why?

The Fidelio Incident

Visions, guilt and reversals

Inspired by Beethoven's only opera, as also suggested by its title, The Fidelio Incident recounts a plane accident that ends up separating a young couple, Stanley and Leonore, in a vast snow-covered landscape littered with half-dead jellyfish and giant animal skeletons. During a desperate search for his beloved wife, Stanley's apparently lost memories gradually resurface, painting a not so rosy picture of his past...

The Dream Machine

A Freudian nightmare in clay and cardboard

A young couple, Victor and pregnant Alicia, move to a somewhat decrepit urban apartment building, only to find out that their elderly landlord, lonely and mysterious Mr. Morton, is spying on them and the other tenants through a sophisticated surveillance system. In an attempt to catch him red-handed, Victor stumbles upon an unimaginable discovery...

The Room Two

Aesthetically superb, intellectually challenging

Aesthetically superb and intellectually challenging, The Room Two follows in the steps of equally gorgeous riddlefest The Room, this time with a hint of a story.

Oracle

To be, or not to be? Literally.

A neat, prettily designed short game without much action besides walking on a strange island, discovering half-ruined landmarks and reminiscing on your relationship with a sinister woman whose influence on your life has been disastrous. The deeper nature of the narrator's feelings for and about her are gradually revealed in voiceover as he stumbles upon each key location.

Morphopolis

The wonderful adventures of a grub

A visually gorgeous little game with a surprising and original premise, some decent puzzles and above all else, lovely design and soundtrack. It was offered at a tiny fraction of its already low price via a gift coupon from Steam, so I gave it a go.