Thimbleweed Park is a classically made point-and-click adventure from legends Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick who made Secret of Monkey Island. The game is a love letter to 1990s point-and-click adventure games that so many of us played, and it recently received an official release date.

Gamespot is reporting that Thimbleweed Park will launch on Steam, GOG.com and Xbox Live for Xbox One starting March 30th. Following the release on those platforms, they also plan on releasing Thimbleweed Park for iOS and Android devices as well. However, they'll have details on the release dates and pricing on the other platforms at a later date.

The game is a pixel-based point-and-click adventure that starts as a murder mystery and evolves into something much more. Much like Gilbert and Winnick's previous work, such as Maniac Mansion -- where players were put in control of a diverse selection of unique characters -- Thimbleweed Park will see players hopping between five different playable characters.

One of the characters named Dolores is the niece of the pioneer who built Thimbleweed Park, a bustling town with a prosperous pillow factory at its heart. However, things took a turn for the worse, the town lost its luster, the economy bottomed out, most people moved away, and odd circumstances began cropping up all over town. To make matters worse, someone ended up dead under a bridge. You know, like you do.

Dolores' uncle left her the factory but she's not really interested in it. There's a lot more going on in the town than meets the eye, and with two investigators looking into the dead body, things begin heating up in unexpected ways. There's actually a trailer for Thimbleweed Park that gives you a solid look at some of the game's hand-drawn environments and point-and-click gameplay that you can check out below, courtesy of Gamespot.

It's an odd looking game that seems to come right out of 1991. What's interesting here is that this is a genuine throwback to the designs featured in games like Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle. Players will have to rely on discovery, wits and a bit of curiosity to get them through the game's puzzles and challenges, all while balancing the unique traits of the five playable characters.

The two investigators remind me of Mulder and Scully from The X-Files. Except the male investigator looks a heck of a lot like Dave from Maniac Mansion.

It's hard to make out exactly what the theme of the game's plot is, other than that some strange occurrences seem to be happening in Thimbleweed Park and the residents are quickly taking flight.

I'm curious how much of a role the clown plays in the game, but he comes from the abandoned circus. There's also a haunted hotel and something to do with toilets running on vacuum tubes. This kind of stuff was frequently common in point-and-click games back in the 1990s, especially stuff like Space Quest or The Neverhood.

You'll be able to experience the story for yourself of Thimbleweed Park when the game launches at the end of the month.

At long last, they're making a new Goosebumps video game. When I first read the headline, I was overjoyed. 

I enjoyed the point-and-click adventure Nickelodeon released for Are You Afraid of the Dark? and it was one of my go-to titles for some time. It effortlessly captured the spirit of the show, but that was due mostly to the FMV segments and the story itself, I suppose. 

This isn't the first time a Goosebumps game has been released of course, but it might be the first one where I've seen screenshots and felt immediately apprehensive. 

It might be published by WayForward, who was previously responsible for some decent game releases, but this Xbox 360 game is both a tie-in to the upcoming movie starring Jack Black and it's developed by GameMill Entertainment. I'm concerned. Here are four things I've discovered from the screenshots released today that are just wrong. Do not want. 

The Artwork 

The imagery shown off in these screens isn't exactly appealing, with a strange art style that doesn't exactly fit that of the Goosebumps brand. It's also weirdly uneven, like the photo here. Why does it look like all three of the characters are drawn slightly differently? And what's going on with the costumes? I'm not sure I know any children anymore who wear loose white socks outside of Japanese high schoolers with their uniforms. Not a fan. 

The Static Images 

I'm not afraid of static images. I'm also not afraid of any game that has me using a dump truck, a dinosaur, and a shovel as part of my inventory, but I am afraid that this apparently low-budget puzzler will feature such lazily-drawn environments that force you to watch other static images change positions and emotions like that of the typical visual novel, but somehow less so. Of course, this is conjecture since the game has just been released, but I can't see that it's going to change very much. 

The Writing

It's apparent that the game is aimed toward children, as Goosebumps are, but this must be from a lower tier of Goosebumps with the boring statements and narration going on here. "Strange woman," indeed. She looks more obnoxious than strange. I'm just not convinced from the small snippets of text in these screens that there's going to be enough here to really scare anyone, especially since this is supposedly a prequel to the upcoming Goosebumps film, which looks absolutely awful. Let's hope this is just placeholder text, because with a narrative like this, this point-and-click game isn't going to get very far with the older crowd. Goosebumps had very wide appeal, so that's unfortunate. 

The Blandness

True, I've only seen a few shots of the game in action thus far, and I may be missing other pertinent information that might sway my opinion in another direction here, but the game looks totally bland and boring. I'm not sure whose idea it was to translate Goosebumps into one of the least stressful video game experiences there could be, but it doesn't seem to be the best decision to have made. Hopefully I'm proven wrong, but I don't hold much hope that I will be. 

Geeta Games' Lilly Looking Through is a throwback to the bygone era of the point-and-click adventure games that flooded and enticed the market during the 90s boom era of gaming... also known as the Golden Age of gaming. The title aims to rekindle the nostalgia of old while bridging in aesthetics, visuals and technology from the new.

The game was recently Kickstarted to success with $33,000, even though the team was only asking for $18,000. Good beans.

Players assume the role of Lilly, a young girl who puts on some looking glasses that completely changes the way she sees and experiences things. The entirety of the plot – or the point A and point B of storytelling – is actually left hidden for now. Thankfully, Geeta Games didn't want to ruin the entire game in the descriptions and press materials, which is a nice change of pace (I'm looking at you Ubisoft).

The point-and-click adventure title takes place in a colorful and vibrant world that moves players along as they discover new locations and solve the typical puzzles associated with the genre.

The developers are now seeking the second phase of community approval... not with money or funding but with a greenlight from the gatekeepers. While develoeprs and gamers may not be entirely keen on Steam's Greenlight process, I have to admit that without it I never would have heard of Lilly Looking Through or The Note or Savant: Ascent. That's not to mention that if it was one of those games that Valve didn't think was worthy of being added to their store then it's a game that just wouldn't exist on a widely available portal such as Steam. That's a lot of potential gamers who would have otherwise missed out on this game, and in that regards, as a graft for the expensive arm of marketing, I think that Greenlight serves its purpose well in exposing gamers and the gaming community at large to new, intriguing and interesting games that wouldn't get any kinds of exposure otherwise.

Also, I really think Lilly Looking Through deserves whatever kind of attention it receives. Will it appear as a positive prospect on the manifests of the video game feminist agenda troop? Who knows. But, the game at least works against everything that so many people claim to be a dire and dreadful aspect of the video game industry.

You can show your support for Lilly Looking Through by giving the game an upvote or two over on the official Greenlight page.

After just making the Steam Greenlight deadline and desperately seeking approval from a community of adventure, point-and-click aficionados, Wadjet Eye Games and Wormwood Studios' Primordia has officially launched on the world's largest video game digital distribution service...Steam, just in case you were wondering.

As stated on the official release page...

I had some hands-on time with the game and I must say that it's an absolute classic. It hearkens back to the days of profound storytelling set amidst dynamic characters and well-rounded quest-arcs.

This point-and-click title will see players adventuring amongst the wastelands of a cyberpunk society. The retro-futuristic environments with quasi-digital technology and a lot of dark, technocratic backdrops set-up the atmosphere and visual pacing of Primordia to separate it from anything else on the market right now.

If you're a fan of the old-school PC adventure titles that helped shape the era of the Golden Age, you'll easily appreciate the gameplay of Primordia. If you're a fan of wasteland cybermacy and deep, grunge cyberpunk stories, you'll also easily fall in love with Primordia. The game is available right now for only $9.99. You can check out more over on the official Steam page.

Wadjet Eye Games and Wormwood Studios' upcoming point-and-click cyberpunk adventure game, Primordia, is gearing up for its early December release. Wadjet Eye recently announced that the game is currently available for pre-order right now, as the team works hard to get greenlit for a Steam release.

If you haven't seen Primordia in action or you're looking forward to seeing what the game is like, feel free to get a brief glimpse at the gameplay in the launch trailer below.

Getting in some play time with the game made it obvious that Wormwood is serious about their adventure titles and they really know and understand how to craft classic, thought-provoking, memorable games.

If you were a fan of Gemini Rue you'll definitely get a kick out Primordia, which sees Horatio Nullbuilt on a quest to recover a stolen power source and discover why he and his sidekick Crispin were violently attacked by another android.

If you'd like to see Primordia make the cut and get a release on Steam feel free to visit the official Steam Greenlight page and give the game an upvote (or two). You can look for Primordia to launch on the first week of December and if you're really geeked for the game, you can pre-order over at the Official Website.

Joining just in time to gather some upvotes before Valve approves more games on November 30th, dtp Entertainment's Haunted has joined the line-up. The game is a classic point-and-click adventure title set within a wacky, dark universe. The game looks surprisingly good to be a small title and carries some witty dialog to boot.

The game throws players into the mix with bunch of ghostly outcasts, the game promotes a sort of cooperative, puzzle-solving gameplay paradigm that aims to mix-up some of the typical tropes and standards attached to the adventure, point-and-click genre. Check it out below.

It seems a little odd that dtp Entertainment would have to turn to Greenlight to get a game on Steam, but maybe Greenlight is a more hassle-free process for getting the game approved than the traditional method? Seems like their game would get lost in the shuffle, and boy is there a shuffle to get lost in.

Right now, you can upvote Haunted and if you have point-and-click, adventure gaming friends, you might want to let them know as well if you want to see the game become selected in the next wave of games to get the greenlight come November 30th.

You can learn more about Haunted by paying a visit to the Official Greenlight Page.

Ice-Pick Lodge Game Development's Knock-Knock is a bit of a unique venture into psychosis and horror. The game sees players journeying into a creepy house where they must avoid the not-so-alive inhabitants. The game has joined Steam's Greenlight and could use a few upvotes.

It's a bit of a point-and-click puzzle adventure game, but it's a bit difficult to easily compare it to another game of similar ilk. I suppose Machinarium comes to mind in regards to art-style and perspective, but the play-style is its own thing.

As described on the Greenlight page...

If that sounds remotely interesting and you'd like to see how the game actually plays out, feel free to check the game out in action below.

So how do you win at this game? It's kind of weird but the object is to bring back substance, thoughts and notions into his world. A chemistry of psychological puzzle-solving is the only thing that stands between pure insanity and a good night's sleep for the main protagonist...all before the candle burns out, of course.

If the game sounds remotely entertaining and you'd like to see this sort of thing gracing the Steam store one day, feel free to pay a kind visit to the Official Greenlight Page and a pass an upvote and a kind word the way of Knock-Knock.

Developer Revolution Software is busy crafting the fifth game in the Broken Sword adventure series, The Serpents Curse, and, this time around, they're looking for a little help providing the funding. In this day and age, that of course means they've recently started up a Kickstarter campaign.

Anyone who thought adventure games were a fad of the past should probably take note of how well these games are doing through Kickstarter. Double Fine's newest project was pretty much funded instantly by its supporters and, in just one day, Broken Sword: the Serpent's Curse has pulled in 1,944 contributors, ammassing $86,992 of its target $400,000. There's still 29 days left in the funding drive so, if I were a betting man, I'd wager that this one is likely going to be another big success story.

While the beginning contribution level is $1, an investment of $15 will earn you a digital copy of the game (planned to release on PC, Mac, iOS and Android in early 2013), as well as a few additional goodies. Higher contribution amounts will earn you swag like original artwork, signed design documents, personalized drawings and even a mention in the game. For full details on the available tiers, as well as loads of extra information on the development process, check out the Broken Sword: The Serpents Curse official Kickstarter page.

According to managing director Charles Cecil, funding The Serpent's Curse through Kickstarter offers several advantages, including a more intimate relationship with the fans through the development process, as well as the ability to make the game they want, how they want.

“The process of game development has previously been remote from our fans,” Cecil said. “By self publishing, we now have a direct relationship with our audience—a position that we value enormously. We're delighted that the latest Broken Sword title is to be the first of our adventures that we can take with our fans. Crucially, Kickstarter support will enable us to create, for the very first time, an adventure game with total creative freedom.”

Wadjet Eye Games, best known for really bringing the hardcore, point-and-click, hand-painted adventure genre back to life with amazingly detailed and atmospheric titles such as Resonance and the undeniably cool Gemini Rue, is back with another sci-fi cyber-punk game called Primordia.

The official teaser trailer for the game looks astoundingly good. The atmosphere is just captured to near pitch-perfection with the color grading and environment detail. While Gemini Rue was a true cyber-punk noir point-and-click game, Primordia takes on a more sci-fi, dystopian cyber-punk agenda with biomechanical elements and a more alien-vibe to its art direction and story overtones. In a way, you could say that Gemini Rue is more Philip K. Dick while Primordia is closer to Isaac Asimov. Check it out below.

Looks really good. Gamers from the Golden Era of adventure titles will probably want to keep their eye out for this title. I personally love the art-style and general weight of the game's atmosphere. It's so sad that so very few 3D games ever achieve the kind of visual depth that many hand-painted titles accomplish.

If you're as excited about this game as the next point-and-click fan next to you, then be sure to keep an eye out for Primordia as it nears release. The best way to do that is to keep a close watch for updates and news over at the Official Wadjet Eye Games Website.

There are three brand new indie games currently available for gamers to check out for PC, including a gorgeous combat racing title, an old-school point-and-click adventure title and an open-world action game.

While a lot of indie games have gone the route of Kickstarter or Indiegogo, I imagine a lot of gamers may tire of dealing with all the hand outs. In this particular case, there is no handing out required because these games are done and complete and you can pick up digital copies of these titles right at this very moment. That's right, there's no need to pay people to make the games you want to play, you can just pay them to play the games you might want to play.

Gas Guzzlers

The first game on the list is Gas Guzzlers, a new-age competitive, combat-racing game that lends itself to a mix of Twisted Metal meets Need for Speed 2. The game is a gorgeous attempt at bringing high-end visuals from the AAA category into a more affordable, budget-priced package. Did I mention that the game looks gorgeous? Yeah, well it does. In addition to the eye-splittingly good graphics the game also sports multiple terrain types for both dusty off-road races as well as pavement-based asphalt runs. You can customize your vehicle's livery as well as its powerful array of destructive arsenal using a very in-depth vehicle customization feature. This game may not break new territory but it definitely seems to aim to bring back some nostalgia-based arcade combat to the PC platform. You can learn more by visiting the Official Website.

Resonance

If you enjoyed classic point-and-click adventures from the Golden Era of gaming, games such as LucasArts' Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle, or perhaps the old Laura Bow games from Sierra Interactive (now Vivendi Universal), then you will probably dig Wadjet Eye and xii Games' latest release, Resonance. The game takes the old-school 16-bit art-style to new heights with a colorful adventure that involves multiple playable characters identical to Maniac Mansion where each character has to exercise their own skill set to help solve various puzzles and unravel a story involving a particle disruption device and a secret lair. If this sounds like your kind of adventure, where smarts, wit and a bit of cunning humor underlie the progression of the plot, then feel free to learn more at the Official Resonance Website.

Tiny & Big: Grandpa's Leftovers

Here's an inventive new title that sets itself apart from every other game out there by simply being something different. Tiny & Big is an oddball 3D adventure from Black Pants Game Studios where you play Tiny, a guy who has his only family heirloom stolen (i.e., fine rib underpants) by his arch rival Big. What follows is a sweeping adventure across a vast desert where Tiny uses a grappling hook, a laser cutter that cuts through anything and physics to manipulate the environment. This game is simply off the hook and combines a bit of Ratchet & Clank with Psychonauts to give gamers a truly fascinating gaming adventure. The added utilization of clever platforming tricks and an amicable art-style to tell the story helps round the game out. Be sure to at least check out this game's Official Website to take a look at the very slick and comically delightful launch trailer.

Tentatively titled "SpaceVenture" from the Two Guys From Andromeda, both Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe are getting back into the thick of it after a 20 year hiatus from the game development circle, but they need your help.

The Two Guys From Andromeda recently made it known that they were getting back together for a big project (or rather, a big project in the indie world but a small project in comparison to the rest of mainstream gaming) and just recently both Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe took to KickStarter to explain how they want to bring a nostalgic-driven space-adventure to gamers.

In a lengthy seven minute video, Murphy and Crowe are joined by a few veteran voice actors who would also like to take part in the project to offer old-school gamers some classic experiences for today's generation of gaming, as well as offer unschooled new-school gamers a look at how real adventure games are supposed to be made.

Right now the entire thing is just in the early goings and they need to hit the $500,000 mark in order to get the green-light to consolidate and head into actual production. I get the feeling that if Rob Lowe of Leisure Suit Larry fame and Tim Schafer from Double Fine could score secure funding for their crowd-sourced projects then I'm pretty sure the Two Guys From Andromeda will be able to do the same.

A list of the game's intended features can be viewed below. The project is scheduled to appear on most major PC-related and mobile devices. You can also help tip some support in favor of the game by heading to the Official KickStarter Page. Here's hoping they meet their goal and we can rekindle some nostalgic space-adventuring.

Possible Game Features:

• A Sci-fi adventure from Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe working happily together as a team once again.

• Hilarious death sequences

• Tons of the fresh (and moldy) pop-culture references

• Fun and unique humor

• Art design and direction by Mark

• Dialog that will make you blow nostril Tang, written by Scott along with Mark

• Narration of all this by Gary Owens and the voice acting of other characters by the above mentioned quality industry voice talent

• Game music that will hopefully give you chills and wedge in your main orb for the rest of your natural Earth life and make you wish you lived inside your computer!

• A game that you will feel comfortable playing with your children, but with some entertainment that will safely appeal only to the adult psyche

The two fellows who helped revolutionize the comedy-adventure genre with the PC point-and-click Space Quest adventure titles from Sierra On-Line are retiring from their near two decade long hiatus and getting back into the game design business with a brand new title.

For those that don't know, Space Quest starred Roger Wilco in a series of sci-fi misadventures. The games started off as type-and-play games but eventually evolved into the standard point-and-click motif that most puzzle-adventure fans have grown to love. After Space Quest 6 the series just faded into oblivion along with other point and click titles like Quest for Glory and King's Quest.

Well, the duo of Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy unleashed a new website called Guys From Andromeda where they detail their return to game development and that they will be unleashing a new space adventure title. The video goes on and about how Murphy and Crowe are planning to take their project public and Blues News makes the remark of noting that no where on the site or in the video do the duo mention anything about KickStarter, but let's not count it out given that it seems like right now the Guys From Andromeda are slowly building up marketing awareness to make the KickStarter campaign count (assuming that's where this is heading).

What's interesting is that just recently in a Q&A with Rock, Paper, Shotgun Al Lowe and Paul Trowe didn't think it was likely that Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy would be getting back to together (and three out of four of those last names end with 'owe'). But it looks like with the advent of classic gaming making a return to the gaming sphere thanks to crowd-sourcing like KickStarter we'll be seeing a nice homage to the Golden Age of point-and-click adventure titles soon thanks to two of the guys who helped pioneer the genre 20 or so years ago.

You can learn more about the Guys From Andromeda and their project by paying a visit to their Official Website.

The forefront of evolution in video game experiences usually lies with the independent community. Every once in a blue moon a big publisher might dump tens of millions of dollars into a big-budget game that is unique, original and evolutionary in its genre, but it's oh-so-very rare. With that said, indie developer Anate Studio has released a new game adventure game about survival in a post-war, modernist environment. The game is currently being localized for westerners with an English version coming out soon.

According to Indie Game Magazine, The Kite was recently released as a free-to-play adventure title. Gamers looking for a mature, narrative-based game will definitely find it in The Kite.

Players assume the role of a mother, married to a changed man suffering from PTSD and struggling to feed her son. The urban setting gives gamers a more familiarized aesthetic, with gangs, poverty and starvation playing pivotal roles in the way the story unfolds. A very tragic event occurs in the game that really puts the story into high-gear, where a mother must desperately try to save her family. It kind of reminds me a lot of something that David Cage and crew might have cooked up over at Quantic Dream Studios.

In its current state, The Kite is only available in Russian. So if you download the game now unless you can read Russian it won't be very understandable. The team at Anate Studio is currently working on an English translation for the game, which should be coming out soon. You can read up more on the story and plot as well as check out a video over at Indie Game Magazine.

Are you still a fan of Roger Wilco? You know, the galaxy's most popular space janitor? Well, if you answered yes, then there's some good news for you: a new Space Quest game has been made. The only downside is that it's not official and it's fan-made. That's assuming you don't like fan-made games, otherwise it's all good.

AgedGamer came across the new project by a fairly large group of dedicated individuals. In fact, there's enough credits to basically call it a fairly large independent project.

The game itself takes place after the 1995 point-and-click animated adventure game, Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier. The last game was actually the weakest in the series and felt like it had a hard time figuring out what it wanted to be, especially coming off the two very well done adventures with Space Quest 4 and Space Quest 5 (SQ4 was probably the best out of the series with the whole time-traveling thing and the fun mini-games). The fan-made project takes place chronologically after Space Quest 6 and it's called Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back.

The game itself is a full-length, fully featured point-and-click adventure title. The only thing it doesn't have is a voice pack, but according to the website the team is working on one. I don't think the voice-overs are all that necessary but if they manage to pull it off convincingly then all the more power to them.

If you've been desiring to further Roger Wilco's adventures then you might want to check out the Official Website to start downloading the game for free, right now.

A "pay if you like" PC adventure title is in the works called Dead Cyborg. The game is a futuristic, cyberpunk-noir thriller with all sorts of aesthetics and visuals that look like they come right out of a Albert Pyun flick. The game will be free-to-play, with optional donations available for those who like what they play.

As stated in the press release…

The game will be released via episodic content, ranging between three and five hours worth of gameplay. The dystopian adventure title will also kindle up some of the exploratory freedoms introduced in games like Normality.

You can learn more about Dead Cyborg by visiting the Official Website.

Point and click adventure fans who may feel like they just don’t get enough fair treatment these days will be pleased to know that the ostracizing ends tomorrow. A brand new adventure title from Pendulo Studios is on the way called The Next Big Thing and it’s made in a similar vein to Pendulo’s other point-and-click title, Runaway.

The Next Big Thing features an undeniably wacky cast of characters with two very unlikely leads. The story is slightly complex and is set around an alternate universe where monsters are movie stars and mystical pyramids are guarded by dangerous robots. Yeah…it’s one of those kind of alternate universes.

Players will take control of two characters, much like in Broken Sword and previous Runaway games, with alternating gameplay segments that are chock full of puzzles and brain-teasing scenarios.

The Next Big Thing will be available at European retail stores and worldwide via digital distribution. For more info be sure to visit the Official Website.

Pendulo Studios and Focus Home Interactive are readying for the release of the new point-and-click adventure title, The Next Big Thing. Before the game drops next week at digital retailers FHI has released a new demo for PC gamers to test out, today.

As stated in the press release…

Players will control two different characters, Liz Allaire and Dan Murray, as they make a journey through exotic locations and unbelievable scenarios involving a mystery that revolves around the next big thing.

You can download the near 1gig demo from the Official Focus Home Interactive Website to test the game out, and you can look for The Next Big Thing to be released on April 21st.

Title: The Next Big Thing

Players: 1

Platform: PC, Mac

Developer: Pendulo Studios

Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Release Date: March, 2011

Pendulo Studios has sort of made a name for themselves doing what they do best: create challenging, artistically driven adventure games. Their latest game is a quirky title that puts two oddball lead characters together for a very big adventure. Gamers who still enjoy taking their time to progress through a story, talking to NPCs for clues and pointing and clicking their way to victory will probably have a fair interest in The Next Big Thing.

The game originally starts with a non-linear approach to the storytelling but then eventually evens out to give players an idea of what’s going on. Basically, the player is in control of two jouranlists, although they’ll be played at different times and not simultaneously. The two main characters are Liz Allaire and Dan Murray. The most striking thing about the game is the fact that Liz and Dan are completely unorthodox for the “lead hero” role given that Liz is borderline insane and Dan is a lazy, self-centered egomaniac. Together the two manage to create quite a unique team as they investigate a conspiracy involving a break-in, a mysterious temple and the next big thing.

Like all other point-and-click adventure games in the past, The Next Big Thing is entirely driven by pointing and clicking on objects or talking to NPCs. To help newbie players along a magnifying glass at the top of the menu can be used to point out all interactive objects within an area so players aren’t aimlessly pointing and clicking any and everywhere to find small or unassuming objects…this isn’t a hidden object game.

Another neat feature is the hint tool; players can easily receive a helpful nudge in the right direction by clicking on the hint tooltip to receive a brief, albeit useful commentary from the narrator about what to do next. The more the hint tool is used the more detailed the hint becomes, so players who truly get stuck in a segment can rely on the hint tool to figure out what to do next.

Dialogue still plays a big part in the story and adventuring, with many helpful clues, tips and objectives that can be revealed simply by talking to different characters. Thinking gamers will probably find the pace and clues rather enjoyable. Gamers unfamiliar with point-and-click adventure titles will have a small challenge keeping the game moving along at a fair pace, but Pendulo seems to have done a good job at keeping gamers entertained more than frustrated.

With a vibrant art-style, colorful characters, a unique, twisty plot and plenty of entertaining dialogue and adventuring, The Next Big Thing seems to be shaping up to be a nice point-and-click title that adventure gamers will more than likely enjoy.

Who is set to co-star in Focus Home Interactive’s colorful crime-caper? Well, none other than the Bond-look-alike, Dan Murray…whoever that is. Pendulo Studios and FHI sent out some new media assets showcasing the debonair sidekick in the upcoming dark-comedy adventure game.

As stated in the press release…

The Next Big Thing is sort of a spiritual gameplay successor to the widely popular Runaway series, which ended its run with a multiplatform bang. Gamers interested in continuing some crime-solving, tag-team couples adventuring can soon do so once The Next Big Thing lands on PC and Macs in April of this year.

You can check out the new assets for Mr. Dan Murray below or learn more about the game by visiting the Official Website.

Harvester Games released a new debut trailer for the upcoming, indie horror game that is sure to send the goose bumps up your forearms and a chill down your spine. The new game is a art-house, avant-garde compilation of dire tragedies and dark story elements all rolled up into one frightening looking experience.

The game’s debut trailer unfolds in an uncharacteristic manner with an awesome Brit-grunge pop song and several in-game scenes to setup the intrigue and mystery behind the game. As more of the game is shown it becomes more and more clear that this will not be a title for the light of heart.

GameTrailers has the trailer up exclusively and you can also view it right here at good ‘ole CB. For more information on The Cat Lady be sure to visit the Official Website. The game is set for release sometime in 2011, exclusively for PC.

It’s not often that a mature themed, casual-style, hidden-object, point-and-click game gets released for PC. However, Alawar just announced that later this month a new kind of horror point-and-click title will be arriving for gamers looking for some extra fright factors out of their casual gaming pastime.

As stated in the press release…

A collector’s edition of the game is also going to be available for $19.99 at Big Fish Games or Alawar, which contains a strategy guide and a bonus chapter that can be unlocked after completing the main story.

It looks like the hidden object genre is finally stepping up to the mid-leagues. You can learn more about Twisted Lands: Shadow Town by visiting the Official Website.

Deep Silver sent out word today that their upcoming action packed, point-and-click adventure game, Lost Horizon, will be available for digital download starting September 24th.

The game sees players taking on the role of a former soldier who turns into an adventuring smuggler…it’s like Han Solo meets Indiana Jones. Anyway, the story takes place in 1930s Tibet and sees the main protagonist, Fenton, trying to fend off Nazis from tracking down powerful occult weapons while unraveling the mystery surrounding the weapons.

Geoff Mulligan, Chief Operating Officer at Deep Silver, commented about the game’s release date, saying...

The game definitely sounds interesting and has an entertaining visual appeal to its art-style. Of course, looks are just looks and gamers will actually have to give the game a little hands-on to actually tell if it’s worth buying…alternatively, you could just wait for a review.

Anyway, if you need more info on Lost Horizon head on over to the Official Website. The game, as stated in the very first paragraph, will be available at major digital distributors once September 24th rolls around.

When the lead character of the game happens to be a frying pan with arms and legs and out of no where blurts out that he remembers a Chinese proverb that says “DO NOT TRUST MIDGIT”, you know you’re in for a gaming thrill ride. The trailer montage takes players through a series of oddities present within the game, including the frying pan’s inability to drive cars correctly.

The lead character of the game is Dougo Beachez and he’s in a bit of car trouble. He ventures around his retro game world, yelling out strange phrases and encountering equally odd characters. The game is just straight through hilarious and after you get done trying to figure out what the game is about you’ll end up spending most of your time laughing at the ridiculous trailer.

You can check out the trailer for the game below, as seen on GameTrailers, or visit the Official Website to download this point and click adventure title.

Like a little sneaking and spying in your point-and-click adventure games? Well, there’s plenty of action to be had in the upcoming Runaway: A Twist of Fate by Focus Home Interactive. And new screenshots were released for the game that features a little bit of that James Bond flair.

The game will be the final in the trilogy of adventures for Gina and Brian, and it promises to have a happy ending. Based on what’s shown off in the trailers Runaway: AToF seems to be a lot darker than its predecessors. Anyway, the game is looking pretty good and could very well be on the big-screen given its look and story concepts.

You can check out the new spy-hardy screenshots below or visit the Official Website for more information on the game. Runaway: A Twist of Fate is due out in the early part of 2010 for the Nintendo DS and PC.

Focus Home Interactive and Pendulo Studios released a new trailer of the upcoming, Runaway: A Twist of Fate. The game marks the final adventure of Gina Timmings and Brian Basco as they take on their most dangerous quest yet.

The new trailer for the game is actually better than expected. In the press release when they stated that the game is almost like a big-budget 2D movie, well…they weren’t lying. The game still sports classic point-and-click mechanics but the scope of the adventure is much larger this time around.

As you’ll see in the trailer the game appears to borrow a lot of elements from various other pop-culture movies, including Indiana Jones, James Bond and The Matrix. Runaway: A Twist of Fate is due out in early 2010 for the Nintendo DS and PC.

You can check out the new trailer below or visit the Official Website for more information on the game. For more gaming news, updates, insight and media, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

The new point-and-click adventure game, Time Gentlemen, Please!, just had its opening cinematic released for public viewing. And being the kind folks that we are here at Blend Games, you can see it right here.

It’s rare that we get any sort of trailers or assets on the press circuit regarding point-and-click games…it’s a genre that is highly under-appreciated during this time and has nearly been left to the vault containing archaic forms of entertainment, right next to the cymbal-clapping monkey.

Anyway, Time Gentlemen, Please! is an interesting game insofar that it puts players in the midst of an odd timeline of events occurring within the game’s universe. I’m not going to give too much away but you can check out the hilarious opening cinematic below.

You can learn more about the game by visiting the Official Website. For more gaming news, info and updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

Microids and Kheops Media recently announced that Return to Mysterious Island 2 is on its way to PCs and iPhones later this year…June, to be exact. The game is kind of cool in that it utilizes both devices for continuous play. Keep reading to find out how Kheops is making it all happen.

Labeled “the data sharing module” the developers are using it as a design model in which gamers can play the game on either the iPhone or PC and save the progress of the game to either platform. The synchronization enables gamers to save the progress on PC and then transfer over the data and continue to playing on the iPhone when they’re on the go. Neat, eh? Even better yet is that the progress made on the iPhone can then be saved back to the PC to further continue progression in the game.

The game itself sees players in control of two characters: Mina and her pet monkey Jep. As Mina players will venture about the island in hopes of saving it from the outside pollution by solving puzzles, reading documents, combining items, etc. When in control of Jep, players will use the monkey to reach areas and access parts of the world that are unreachable by Mina or communicate with other monkeys to gather information. Such a feature isn’t groundbreaking, but at least it sounds mighty intriguing.

You can look for the game to become available this June for the iPhone and PC. You can learn more about other products in this genre by visiting the Official Jules Verne Game Website. For more gaming news an updates, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.

The sequel to the murder mystery, Still Life (which had an ending that left everyone wondering about what would happen next) is finally on its way. Featuring point-and-click adventuring, a thrilling and mature story, and dual protagonists (both controlled by the player), Still Life 2 is shaping up to be one of the more noteworthy adventure games of the year.

The first in-game trailer doesn’t really showcase a whole lot of flash and panache, but it does set gamers up for wanting more. Well, I know I sure wanted to see more…it kind of ends before really climaxing to anything spectacular. But then again, that’s the whole point of promotional trailers, right?

The game features two playable characters. The first is detective Victoria McPherson as she tracks down a killer, and the second is reporter Paloma Hernandez, who has been captured by the killer. The objective is to hunt down the killer with one character, while simultaneously trying to escape from his lair with the other character. H’m, sounds like a LionsGate film, no?

Anyway, The game is due out this spring exclusively on PC. You can learn more by visiting the Official Website. You can check out the new trailer below, and be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for more news, updates and info on all things gaming.