Shardlight

A point and click game from the makers of Primordia, Technobabylon and so many other pixel point and clicks. They are great at what they do, each one creating a world to explore and solve. Shardlight is another solid outing, though perhaps not as much as the previous two I mentioned.

Find it on Steam.

Shardlight takes place in a pretty depressing setting. It is the aftermath of some great war, and most everyone is suffering from disease thanks to the toxic air. There is medicine for it, but not enough, so people get doses by lottery.

Paired up with a strange Victorian style and a brewing rebellion, be prepared for a lot of death.

You are Amy Wellard, just a woman trying to survive. But get pulled into something greater. The world is realized in a great pixel style, the same style as all of their previous games. It conveys a lot of detail, emotion and atmosphere.

The voice acting is good, and the music adds to the somber atmosphere. You can feel how everyone is struggling to eek by. There is reminders of devastation everywhere. Not to mention there’s a mysterious reaper going around taking people away to “save” them.

There is a strong myth to the world despite them being in this state for less than forty years. Yet the sense of how the world has changed is profound.

That guy in the mask up there? He’s one of the government officials, and he is really creepy.

The puzzles start out strong, but later on, story takes over. I did want more puzzles later, but keeping up the pace of the game makes things feel hectic, as it should. One thing I did want (and maybe I didn’t discover) was a way to solve puzzles without the use of the crossbow. Maybe the crossbow would be the easy way and there would be a more technical way.

A happy world this is not, but perhaps, making it to the end, you can change that. Fight disease, meet other survivors and take part in a really dismal place.

Find it on Steam.