pauraque | Entries tagged with games: year: 2016

This sequel to Maniac Mansion picks up the story five years later, when one of Dr. Fred's tentacle monster creations accidentally drinks toxic sludge that gives him super intelligence and an unquenchable thirst to take over the world. This brings Bernard (the nerdy kid from the first game) back to the mansion, this time with his college roommates Hoagie (a laid-back metalhead) and Laverne (an endearingly nutty medical student). Dr. Fred tries to send the trio back in time to prevent the catastrophe, but Hoagie ends up 200 years in the past with no electricity to power his time pod, and Laverne ends up 200 years in the future when tentacles reign and keep humans as their pets. As the player you control all three protagonists and guide them to ensure that the terrible, eponymous Day of the Tentacle never dawns.

nerdy kid with glasses stands in a hotel lobby with gum with a dime stuck in it highlighted

nerdy kid with glasses stands in a hotel lobby with gum with a dime stuck in it highlighted

This was one of my favorite games as a kid, but I hadn't played it since the remastered re-release came out, ten years ago today. When I was looking into it I noticed that it happens to be the #1 rated DOS title on MobyGames. Is this actually the best DOS game of all time? Let us investigate!

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Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle Remastered is available on various platforms for $14.99 USD, and on Steam it's currently on sale for $2.99 USD, so if you never got around to it, now's the time!

This cosmic horror point-and-click was released in two "seasons" of four episodes each, which I believe were produced as Kickstarter funding allowed. The two seasons together comprise a complete story.

Set in Victorian Britain, Season One follows Jeremiah Devitt, an alumnus of a remote boarding school where he belonged to a secret society performing occult experiments. As an adult, he receives a cryptic letter from a former classmate, but by the time he arrives, the classmate has died by suicide, prompting Devitt to investigate. Season Two follows Devitt's psychiatrist Dr. Wakefield, now investigating his patient's mysterious disappearance and the true nature of the secret society and the hidden reality it has uncovered.

an oak casts a dark shadow on a red building and is silhouetted against a sepia yellow sky

an oak casts a dark shadow on a red building and is silhouetted against a sepia yellow sky

This one is sleep-with-the-lights-on scary. Lots of suspenseful sequences and expertly timed jump-scares. Something horror games can do that horror movies can't is to make you decide to keep walking further into the dark hallway where the creepy voice is coming from, and this game really leans into that. There were many moments when I found myself creeping forward inch by inch, dreading what was coming but knowing I had no choice but to press on. I loved it.

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If you really want to be scared this spooky season, I highly recommend The Last Door. It's available on Steam (Season One, Season Two) for $9.99 USD per season, but GOG (Season One, Season Two) currently has both seasons on sale for $3.49 USD each.

In this visual novel by Venezuelan studio Sukeban, life in an oppressive cyberpunk dystopia is explored on a small, intimate, human(oid) scale. The protagonist, Jill, is no big hero, just a bartender whose top priorities are making it to her next cigarette break, making rent, and keeping herself distracted from her regrets about the girl who got away. As the game opens, she learns that the shady corporation that owns the bar where she works is about to shut them down—but why? And what the hell is she supposed to do next?

bar customer talks about sex tourism

Though the stakes are always personal, a lot of worldbuilding comes across through Jill's conversations with her customers and co-workers. This is a clever storytelling technique, allowing us to naturally meet a diverse cross-section of the people who inhabit this future world, many of whom the protagonist would probably never interact with outside work. There's an android sex worker, a beautiful white-hat hacker, a naive young cop, a cheapskate private investigator, a literal brain in a jar, a misogynistic jerk who runs a scuzzy tabloid, a pack of talking dogs, and more! You never know who's going to walk through the door.

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VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is available on Steam and GOG for $14.99 USD. One to check out if you like queer VNs!

In this no-combat exploration game, you play as an unnamed diver venturing into an underwater world filled with colorful sea life. You're thrown in with no indication of what you're supposed to be doing, and at first all you can do is take in the environment—you can swim with the fish, grab onto rays and whales and be carried along by them, and stop at meditation spots that let you just watch the animals.

diver arrives in an ocean scene

The game does have a story, though, which you discover as you go on. You never get a full explanation of what's going on, but there are destructive, alien forces in the sea, and you'll need to ally with the animals to defeat your shared enemies.

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Abzû is usually $19.99 USD on Steam, which I think is awfully steep for such a short game, even though I liked it a lot. However, it's currently on sale for $4.99 USD through July 11th, so this wouldn't be a bad time to grab it if it sounds appealing.

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mixed habitat & densely vegetated hiding places

pauraque's journal

Entries tagged with games: year: 2016

Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (1993/2016)

The Last Door (2014, 2016)

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (2016)

Abzû (2016)

July 2026

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