Endacopia Screenshot
Image: Andyland

I grew up playing early point-and-click adventures. A genre full of spite, murder, and cruelty like that (early Sierra adventures would kill you for looking at them funny) leaves an impression on a growing boy's mind. I'm seemingly not the only one. Andyland, one of the developers of the excellent Picayune Dreams, clearly has some love for '90s adventures and the sense that they were out to get you, and it has manifested today as Endacopia.

I've been looking forward to this one for a while, after an excellent demo and a successful Kickstarter, and it seems I wasn't the only one. Glowing reviews are already pouring in on Steam. As you might have guessed from the screenshots below, there's a bit more to Endacopia than just sass and inventory puzzles. There are minigames, combat, and a little bit of lurking horror, although the game is still largely tongue-in-cheek.

In Endacopia, you are... you. The player beyond the screen, guiding the hapless little protagonist Mellow through a strange multimedia world, with an assortment of related but distinct art styles. Some areas are classic pixel art, others have semi-pre-rendered backdrops, and first-person action segments tend to be more 3D. It gives the whole game a slightly uncanny look. A dreamlike interpretation of that early era of PC gaming, when CD-ROMS were new, and it was positively luxurious to have a game take up more than 10mb on your hard drive.

While I'm sure that developer Andyland is significantly younger than me, he'd nailed that look and feel, and after playing the demo I absolutely must dig into the full version of this one... once I'm done with The Mermaid Mask. And maybe push Tormentum 2 further down my to-play list. Ever notice how EVERY genre is just packed with bangers right now?

Endacopia is out now for £14.82/$16.50 with a 10% launch discount running until August 10th. I also need to shout out Picayune Dreams again, because it's great stuff. Oh, and Endacopia's demo is still available, so check that out if you're still on the fence.