The Longing (2020)
Released in 2020, The Longing is an idle game built around slowness, patience, and deliberate waiting. The king of the underground has fallen into a sleep that will last 400 days, and his servant, Shade, is left alone to pass the time with no obvious purpose. The game arrived at a fitting moment, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many players found points of contact with their own situation. Shade lives as if in quarantine. He has no access to the surface world — or does he? The player’s task is to explore the vast cave system and uncover its secrets. I have nothing against The Longing, but little to argue strongly in its favour either. It is nevertheless a memorable experience, quite simply because its slowness places it in a category of its own.
The Sexy Brutale (2017)
The Sexy Brutale stands out through its bold visual style and memorable soundtrack. This murder mystery set in a fantastical 1920s mansion swept me along, although not without some stumbling. The player character, priest Lafcadio, wakes into the same nightmare over and over again, always to the same Saturday when the Marquis has gathered his friends. It is up to him to discover what is really going on in the mansion and how the time loop could be broken. Although timing your actions precisely is essential, thoroughly exploring the mansion and spying on its guests and staff takes time. The game’s endearing visuals make the horror and dark occultism feel harmless, and its swinging soundtrack keeps the mood brisk.
It Came from the Desert (1989)
The action-adventure game It Came from the Desert from 1989 offers not only a retro Amiga experience but also a time warp into the science-horror films of the 1950s. A radioactive meteorite crashes into the small Californian town of Lizard Breath, causing the local ants to mutate. The geologist who arrives to examine the crater — the character controlled by the player — recognises the danger, but no one believes him. The geologist becomes an unlikely action hero whose mission is to collect evidence of giant ants and fight them. The game has an intriguing atmosphere and the makings of a cult classic, but it is also too rushed for leisurely enjoyment because everything plays out in real time. It Came from the Desert can be played not only on an original Amiga and via emulators but also on a modern Windows PC, as it is included in the Cinemaware Anthology Collection.
Chinatown Detective Agency (2022)
Released in April this year, Chinatown Detective Agency is a puzzle adventure set in near-future Singapore. You zip around the city by metro and occasionally fly abroad. The player character, the young Amira Dharma, is a former Interpol officer turned private detective. Her work consists largely of research and various puzzles that extend beyond the game into the internet. Even though Amira’s reality and the cases she solves, ranging from murders to corruption, tell a bleak story, the game is still warm-hearted, as Amira finds her own support group. Chinatown Detective Agency has its weaknesses and imperfections, but my play experience was smooth, and I liked the core idea a great deal.
Space: 1999 (2008)
The adventure game Space 1999 was developed for Oric computers and is based on the 1970s TV series of the same name. Orics are 8-bit home computers from the 1980s, today easily explored through emulators for anyone curious about retro hardware. Space 1999 itself is not from the 1980s; it was released in 2008. When I first saw a demo video, I was captivated. The isometric 3D graphics looked striking, and the overall presentation felt both ambitious and affectionate. It was as if the Oric had quietly been lifted to a new level.
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1996)
Released in 1996, Titanic: Adventure Out of Time conveniently anticipated the following year’s successful Titanic film and sold well in its wake. Just over a week ago, at the end of 2017, it was officially released for modern Windows computers — officially, it should be added, as the game had long been available under the false assumption that it was abandonware. Awareness of the ship’s inevitable sinking creates a particular tension in this adventure game. A four-part main objective, side tasks, and a large cast of characters make it fairly complex, and navigating the long, multi-deck ship is challenging. In terms of premise and period, it immediately brought The Last Express to mind, and I could not help comparing the two.
The Detective (1986)
Released in 1986 and designed by Sam Manthorpe, The Detective is a fine graphical murder mystery for the Commodore 64. Like many games of its era, it is a purifying experience — a return to the roots rather than a mere historical curiosity. In games this old, the skeleton of the adventure genre is still clearly visible. Due to technical limitations, everything is simplified to the essentials.
The Last Express (1997)
Released in 1997, The Last Express stands as a highly distinctive adventure game. Several unusual design choices interact to create something memorable and unique. Breaking conventions always entails risk, and reactions have been divided since day one — many praise The Last Express while others find it deeply frustrating. For me, it required crossing a certain threshold of understanding before I could fully appreciate it.