A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

The recent success of Dear Esther shows there’s a real market for atmospheric first-person games that play more like an interactive story than a traditional game. Process is such a game. In terms of game mechanics, it’s a lot like Myst, although atmospherically it feels like a survival horror game. But ultimately, it is neither, and perhaps best described as an “experience”. (more…)

The PC demo of Gesundheit! from 2006 is to this date one of the most professional looking work done with the Adventure Game Studio engine. Also the most fun piece of snot-shoot puzzling around tear-eyed monsters ever created! (more…)

Architecture is perhaps the epitome of human creativity. For thousands of years, it has been one of the most (if not the most) powerful ways of human expression. You can read about Egyptian culture in countless history books, but their culture only comes alive in all its imposing grandiosity when you see those testaments in stone they built. You may have read a thing or two about the power of religion in the Middle Ages, but you only truly experience the meaning of those words inside a cathedral. Even a despicable man as Hitler understood the potency of architecture, making architect Albert Speer one of the most important men in his Reich. (more…)

With all the recently released indie sci-fi goodness such as Gemini Rue and Technocrat‘s (Technobabylon) works I feel it’d be a shame to overlook one other certain brilliant indie sci-fi adventure game. Well, “recently” by procrastinator’s standards anyway but you know. It’s never a bad time to learn of a good game.
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It’s time to grab your gun and your guitar, to shoot and kick some zombie butt! No, this isn’t a review of Left 4 Dead or Dead Island, and yes, you’re still on HardyDevth. This is, however, a review of a zombie survival game… of sorts. (more…)

It’s taken a while, but after a few months, the third chapter of The Dream Machine is upon us. After getting reacquainted with the controls (not that they’re very complicated, but what few controls there were I’d forgotten), I was soon exploring this wonderful dream world again. The first two chapters impressed with their very atmospheric handmade sets. Can this chapter do the same? (more…)

Your name is Abdullah, emissary of the Sultan, and you find yourself on a ship on your way to a secret, diplomatic mission. It is the mid-19th century and the ship also carries
stereotypical, dignified characters such as an Italian engineer, an opera singer, an African sorcerer, Rasputin and plenty others — all hosted by the captain of the ship.

But that’s where the similarities with Cluedo or Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” end! This game is delightfully wacky and full of anachronisms (Rasputin in the 1850′s?). (more…)