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

It’s been exactly 1 year and 3 days since the last installment of DEV INTRO – a special interview format I established to allow HardyDev to have more regular and varied interviews. It was particularly handy to introduce developers that only just released their first independently created game (or at least can show some lovely content for it).

Today, after the aforementioned short break, DEV INTRO is back! And it brings you nothing less than Rise of The Hidden Sun!

Rings a bell? It should!
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Pavel Černohous

Tale of a Hero is a heroic fantasy adventure game with lots of charm, storytelling depth and adventure gaming goodness, that was all finished and ready to fall into players’ hands nearly a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, while the Czech developer and publisher Future Games immediately prepared an English, fully voiced version (voiceover-less demo here), there are no set release dates for the biggest international markets yet. I live in one of the few lucky countries where the game is readily available and I must say that Tale of a Hero went on to become my favorite adventure title from recent years (look up my full review for details). Being so fond of the game, I’ve asked its lead designer Pavel Černohous to take part in an interview about it. He not only did agree, but also brought along Jan Kavan (the creator of Ghost in The Sheet). (more…)

Everyone enjoys a good, long fantasy (fairy-)tale depicting the adventures of a true hero. It’s a pity then that it’s so difficult to come by an adventure game that matches this seemingly broad description. The days of regular King’s Quest and Quest for Glory entries with occasional great one-shots like my personal favorite Death Gate seem to be long over. The few new games that encompass traditional fantasy elements tend to push them towards cartoony slapstick and parody rather than offer a serious treatment of the genre.

Similarly, most new adventure games suffer from shortness, often even choosing an episodic format of publishing – not the best fit for an epic story of heroic daring-do. It is then an experience not totally unlike that of a starving hobbit coming upon a delicious feast to finally play an adventure game which not only captures the spirit of epic fantasy, but it is able to feel fresh, exciting and have a personality all of its own. It is a game that fully deserves the title Tale of a Hero. (more…)