A Hardy Developer's Journal

Things just got more complicated, partner!

Somehow almost all my entries seem to go along with cartoony pictures. It’s hard to stay serious in such circumstances. Thankfully I have now dabbled in a realistic, gritty, FMV whodunit adventure game series called Casebook and am able to offer you a taste of something much more dark and realistic for a change. Dedicated especially to fans of solving crimes through methodical clue and evidence gathering and patience-demanding forensic work.

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They say there is only one true pirate adventure game/game series, the rest just tries to take a piece of its glory for themselves. They are a little bit more forgiving, though, when the game in question is intentionally a love letter to the classic adventure games of yore. Yet there also exists a certain title that is a piratey love letter in both this and a quite different meaning of the expression.

Yes, it’s all true! Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! – the game in question – was made using the freeware AGS engine specifically for the girlfriend of its creator Alasdair Beckett (but don’t worry, YOU can play it too)! Well, actually Alasdair doesn’t really try to hide who is the game’s primary addressee any more than the fact that it was heavily inspired by the Monkey Island series. How could he do that anyway, when the game even borrows the icon coin interface known from Curse of Monkey Island. A very heartfelt tribute to Monkey Island then? (more…)

When I started this blog I thought I was a bit late too include references to 2008 holiday celebrations, but it appears that I can – on the pretext of  others being late too.

The talented team behind Indiana Jones and The Fountain of Youth DEMO, which is still working on the full version of this very promising adventure game in the style of the classic Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, have just released a very special (if a bit late) Christmas/New Year’s Greetings surprise making adventure fans happy all over the world. By doing so they prolonged (or at least brought back a little) holiday atmosphere far into January, which makes the experience even more nice. (more…)

As of January 2009, I played a fair amount of indie adventure games released in 2008 (well, just a few of those that were heavily lauded actually). While there are still some last year highlights out there waiting for me, Mental Repairs Inc. is without any doubt the best one I came across. What’s more, although it’s completely freeware it matches (and in some areas surpasses) the technical quality of games that require some kind of financial investment before playing. (more…)

Hal Barwood

I was very happy to have been recently able to do an interview with Hal Barwood on behalf of ACG. His Indiana Jones and The Fate Atlantis was the first adventure game I ever played (that’s like winning a lottery) and remains one of my favorites. It is not some kind of sentimental affection on my part, mind you (I’m a notoriously unsentimental person). The game is just really that good and perfectly represents the good old days (absolutely no sentimental connotations on my part!) when the care went first of all into the game design and storytelling departments instead of in making things more and more flashy. (more…)