What are the adventure games you're really looking forward to in 2015? For me it's Obduction, Catyph, STASIS, Thimbleweed Park, Armikrog, the Pathologic remake, and the new Daedalic games.
For your reference, here's a pretty comprehensive list put together by RPS. One thing it's missing is the aforementioned Catyph by the developer of the wonderful ASA - A Space Adventure (the best Myst-like adventure game in a long time with some really excellent puzzles): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267433263
For your reference, here's a pretty comprehensive list put together by RPS. One thing it's missing is the aforementioned Catyph by the developer of the wonderful ASA - A Space Adventure (the best Myst-like adventure game in a long time with some really excellent puzzles): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=267433263
Adventure games
Adventuring means more than just point-and-clicking, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s also about incredible journeys, story and mystery over violence, and whatever your preference, Kickstarted games should bring plenty in 2015.
1979 Revolution
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
1979 Revolution is set during Iran’s revolution, and aims to be faithful to the actual events. You play as a photojournalist in Tehran, and though it’s unclear what form the game will take, it’s described as an action adventure and it’s meant to emphasise player choice.
All 1979 Revolution posts.
A Rite From The Stars
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
1/2/2015
Release date
Q1
What is it?
A Kickstarter success story, squeaking just past a $40,000 goal in autumn, A Rite From The Stars is an adventure/puzzle game with all the right classic influences while upgrading its controls and mechanics to be more modern. Kirm, a young member of the Makoa Tribe, is your hero going through his rite of passage.
All A Rite From The Stars posts.
Anna’s Quest
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q2
What is it?
Adventuring across a fantasy world, you are the titular character running away from a witch who’s imbued her with telekinetic powers. Naturally you have a teddy bear sidekick who was once a human boy and a quest to cure your grandfather.
All Anna’s Quest posts.
Armikrog
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
Being an adventure game done in claymation, Armikrog may be 2015’s most 1900s game. It climbed an impressive $900,000 Kickstarter mountain back in mid-2013, but everything’s been quiet on the kilned front since the end of a secondary funding campaign except for some backers-only updates.
All Armikrog posts.
Broken Age Act II
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
A successful and well received opening chapter didn’t stop the communal raised eyebrow at Broken Age, the original Kickstarter success story, needing to be split into two parts. Vella and Shay’s story will need to end strong.
All Broken Age Act II posts.
Dead Synchronicity
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
Dark, dystopian point and clicking with a ludicrously beautiful art style, Dead Synchronicity is also about, seemingly, the end of time. It’s a mishmash of interesting ideas that will hopefully avoid the pitfalls common to time-manipulation storytelling.
All Dead Synchronicity posts.
Desolate
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
July 2015
What is it?
Considerate puzzling with a character unable to communicate trying to mend the mistakes he made when dark forces attacked his village. The people no longer trust him and are actively aggressive. Beautifully hand-painted to boot.
All Desolate posts.
Dreamfall Chapters
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
The continuation of the Longest Journey series – or specifically, a sequel to the sequel, Dreamfall. Dreamfall Chapters was crowdfunded and the first part came out near the end of 2014, and the rest should continue the story of Zoe and Arcadia.
All Dreamfall Chapters posts.
Dropsy
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
1/15/2015
What is it?
An adventure game starring a cheerful, misunderstood clown, Dropsy is aiming for surreal and grotesque and, based on GIFs of its warping, handless star, seems likely to succeed at least at that. It comfortably cleared its Kickstarter target last year and the developer recently announced that all the game’s scenes were in-game, meaning that they’ve moved on to implementing puzzles.
All Dropsy posts.
else Heart.Break()
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
The wonderfully named story of a programmer moving to a new city, meeting people and falling in love. Plus their attempts to stop the evil of the ruling classes. There’s a lot of simulation going into building the city so it feels real, trying to emulate a fully connected network of computers than can be modified.
All else Heart.Break() posts.
Telltale’s Game of Thrones
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
We’ve five more episodes of Telltale’s spinoff to the ridiculously popular series to come and our Alec thinks it will be something quite unlike their previous efforts if it continues as it started. Waiting for second episode reviews to confirm its “stayed good” is usually a sound tactic with Telltale, mind.
All Telltale’s Game of Thrones posts.
Kentucky Route Zero
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Of course RPS’ game of the year 2013 is on our games to watch 2015 list, why wouldn’t it be? The slow-burn release of episodes and intervals in our favourite on-going story of the secret subterranean highway will come to a close soon.
All Kentucky Route Zero posts.
King’s Quest
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q3
What is it?
Rebooting one of the most fondly remembered series of adventure games from the 90s with an all new dev team. An episodic series with the now-old hero of the original games telling new stories set around the same time.
All King’s Quest posts.
Life Is Strange
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
An episodic tale about Max, a woman who realises she can rewind time. Always a shock. It’s downbeat, focused on the relationships between its characters. There’ll be five episodes in all.
All Life Is Strange posts.
Minecraft: Story Mode
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Telltale’s latest project is even further out of left-field than the surprisingly good Tales From The Borderlands. So newly announced there’s not a lot of info beyond it being set in the Minecraft world and inspired by its community.
All Minecraft: Story Mode posts.
Murder
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Details are very light about the retro point and click adventure set in cyberpunk Tokyo. You play as a police officer investigating a series of murders all in the same style, while suffering from nightmares about a murderous android with a god complex. The two are likely related.
All Murder posts.
Obduction
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
October 2015
What is it?
Suddenly whisked away from Earth by a mysterious object, Obduction quickly becomes about exploring the new reality you find yourself in. Made by the folks behind and deliberately evoking Myst.
All Obduction posts.
Octopus City Blues
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
Live life as a lowly ‘tentacle-cutter’ in a city built around a giant octopus. Yep. OCB begins with the main character experiencing dreams of twisted creatures and setting off on an adventure to help the inhabitants of Octopus City, becoming embroiled in a conspiracy as he goes. Sounds bizarre, looks sorta lovely.
All Octopus City Blues posts.
Paradigm
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
July 2015
What is it?
Feels like a classic LucasArts adventure in the modern era. Every element of the weird, mutated universe is designed for humour and the art is gorgeous. Successfully Kickstarted thanks to a demo that should still be available.
All Paradigm posts.
Shelter 2
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
February 2015
What is it?
Trading in adorable badgers for adorable lynxes, the sequel to the “How Bad A Mother Are You?” test of 2013 promises to be just as heart-crushingly cute as before. This time you aren’t just at the bottom of the food chain, with hunting other animals taking a role.
All Shelter 2 posts.
Silence: The Whispered World II
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
The original Whispered World starred a clown named Sadwick with an infuriatingly annoying voice. This sequel takes place in the same world but changes the protagonists. It looks beautiful but, sadly, Sadwick is due to return as a non-playable character.
All Silence: The Whispered World II posts.
Tales From The Borderlands
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
Telltale’s other midway project, this was supposed to be the dud. Witty, clever and managing to stand on its own for those unfamiliar with the series, Adam was impressed with the first episode.
All Tales From The Borderlands posts.
The Devil’s Men
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q2
What is it?
From the writer of Memoria, this adventure game tells the story of two women attempting to solve a series of murders and find a lost father in a dark, steampunk world. It’s promised that solving puzzles in different ways will significantly alter the flow of the plot.
All The Devil’s Men posts.
The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizzaboy
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
May 2015
What is it?
Warning: not an actual dog, do not be fooled. Based on an independent comic book of the same name, this point and click explores a supernatural underworld while cracking a few jokes. It’s very prettily drawn too.
All The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizzaboy posts.
Thimbleweed Park
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
6/1/2016
What is it?
A spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion, Kickstarted by Maniac and Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert. 2014 was the year of point-and-click revival, but Thimbleweed Park is aiming to steer much closer to the source material in both art style and interface.
All Thimbleweed Park posts.
To Azimuth
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
September 2015
What is it?
An adventure game about alien abduction with some very creepy undertones, To Azimuth follows a brother and sister as they search for their lost family. It didn’t do so well on Kickstarter but does an incredible job of building an atmosphere.
All To Azimuth posts.
Twelve Minutes
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Groundhog Day: The Point’n’Click, only over a smaller period. The central puzzle is breaking the time loop, but with only twelve minutes each time to try to find a solution. The first loop sets it up, with your newly pregnant wife accused of murder and a police officer beating her confession out of you. Nasty, but intriguing, giving you new facts to explore in future loops each time.
Twelve Minutes preview.
Twelve Minutes interview.
All Twelve Minutes posts.
Please Knock On My Door
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
Dealing with the heavy topics of depression, phobia and loneliness, Please Knock is the solo effort of swedish developer Michael Levall. Living alone in a small apartment, it’s an adventure game about dealing with the repetitive nature of a life mostly indoors and computer-bound.
Burly Men At Sea
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Likely to be the beardiest game of the year, it’s an adventure game about exactly what it says – large gentlemen exploring the ocean. Discovery plays a massive part in the game, allowing the player to govern what direction the “folktale” goes.
Hiveswap
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Set within the Homestuck comic universe, Hiveswap is an episodic adventure game about a girl transported to a troll universe and trying to find her way home. It’s being developed with a second game already in mind, which will tell the story of a troll-boy transported to the human universe and similarly trying to find his way home. So far there’s nothing to see but concept art, but Homestuck fans rejoice.
Syberia III
Official site
Genre
Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Starring Kate Walker, a lawyer who managed to turn a simple toy factory acquisition into two adventure games worth of transdimensional, er, misadventure 10 years ago. The resurrected developer is now back, with the rights to continue her story.
Catequesis
Official site
Genre
Adventure, Horror
Release date
TBA
What is it?
It looks like Pokémon, right up until the moment when the serene pixel art environments become caked in blood, the young boy pulls a pistol, and the dripping, oozing nightmare monsters begin to attack. Catequesis is yet another survival horror game and yet another pixel art RPG, but does accomplish something different by merging the two.
Karmaflow
Official site
Genre
Adventure, Music
Release date
January 2015
What is it?
On the surface a puzzle platformer, Karmaflow uses music to tell its story in an “interactive rock opera” with various famous vocalists playing parts. It’s even being performed on stage as a separate musical act, with a larger concert to coincide with the release of the game in mid-January.
All Karmaflow posts.
Future Perfect
Official site
Genre
Creative
Release date
TBA
What is it?
Future Perfect gets meta, the challenge and purpose of its sandbox is to create games. They can be designed and played in groups, like all the best bits of Garry’s Mod but dedicated to that cause.
All Future Perfect posts.
The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2
Official site
Genre
Early Access, Adventure
Release date
1/30/2015
What is it?
Most of this comedy adventure game sequel is already available through Early Access, but the final chapter and full version are a 2015 release. The first was an amusing and well written fantasy take and this seems to be following in those footsteps.
All The Book Of Unwritten Tales 2 posts.
Stasis
Official site
Genre
Early Access, Horror, Adventure
Release date
Q1
What is it?
A horror point and click from an isometric viewpoint about a father awakening from cryosleep in deep space on a failing ship. He has to deal with the insidious experimentation that occurred on the ship while attempting to save his family.
All Stasis posts.
I Can’t Escape: Darkness
Official site
Genre
Early Access, Horror, Adventure
Release date
January 2015
What is it?
Exploratory dungeon crawling in first-person, this is an updated and refined version of a webgame that made a bit of a splash last year. The purpose is, you’ll be shocked to learn, to escape a definitely-evil, probably-haunted dungeon you’ve foolishly become trapped inside. There’s also a spooky eyeball.
Pathologic
Official site
Genre
First-Person, Adventure
Release date
11/1/2016
What is it?
A remake of one of gaming’s true cult hits, Adam sacrificed more than one baby goat to his heathen gods to ensure this got its money on Kickstarter earlier this year. Sadly, it will be some time before the first-person adventure-cum-surreal-‘em-up arrives.
All Pathlogic posts.
Return Of The Obra Dinn
Official site
Genre
First-Person, Adventure
Release date
TBA
What is it?
First notable for being Lucas “Papers, Please” Pope’s new game, the mysterious Obra Dinn’s art style and time manipulation mechanics let it stand on its own. Investigating the trade ship pulling into port absent its crew, you’ll find their bodies and use a watch to relive their last moments to deduce what has happened.
