It’s the year 1834, and mankind has spread across the galaxy. Distant planets have been terraformed and colonized, and space travel is commonplace. Unfortunately, space pirates (“kribbs”) are running rampant, so a global alliance called the Space Union has formed a counter-strike force of interplanetary police. Like a certain Kaptain Brawe, the barrel-chested, blustery leader of a two-man patrol ship. When the SPS Mazslow receives a distress signal pleading for help, it’s off to the rescue… at least, it might be if only Brawe can fix his robot, the translation machine, and the darn wiring as I guided this would-be space hero through his early mechanical travails in a preview version of the self-titled Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World.

Wait a sec… 1834? Space travel? Yes, you read right. Kaptain Brawe is set in an alternate universe – one that advanced prematurely due to the invention of an ion drive, a technological marvel beyond anything like our own. Yet it’s a world (or collection of worlds) that’s still very much antiquated in other ways. Besides everything breaking down (some things never change), the Kaptain’s ship is a combination of hi-tech gizmos and wood floors, with intercoms that still broadcast in Morse code. It’s a delightful mix of past and future, and provides a whimsical backdrop for this promising sci-fi comic adventure.



But hang on… 2010? Yep, the article date is correct, too, though some readers are understandably thinking they already played this game in 2006. If you’re one of those people, well… you have and you haven’t. Kaptain Brawe began production in the hands of Napthalite Productions, who released an early demo very similar to this four years ago. The playable sampler floored many of us with its stylish graphics and vintage LucasArts-style sensibilities. At that time, it was destined for an episodic release, and the series launch seemed imminent.

And then… nothing. Not a peep, the game apparently cut adrift in the great cosmic void. (I guess it’s true, you really can’t hear sound in space.)

Then, just as suddenly as it disappeared, the game re-emerged recently as a new title from Cateia Games. Not only that, but reportedly almost finished, with a launch date not far off. We’ll let Cateia and the game’s original designer, Petar Ivancek, explain what happened during the intervening years in our interview to follow. Before that, there’s a new, improved version of a familiar scenario to tell you about, and I’m pleased to report that Kaptain Brawe is looking and playing better than ever, though be forewarned that outer space continues to cast a deafening silence on any and all characters involved.



In just about all respects, Kaptain Brawe would have fit in nicely during genre’s heyday. With its lush 2D cartoon art and “verb coin” interface, the game shares more than a few similarities with mid-‘90s titles like The Curse of Monkey Island. That alone is enough to sell some people on the game, and it’s easy to see the appeal. Even within the rather dingy confines of Brawe’s ship, the architecture is wonderfully skewed, the colours are rich and vivid. I haven’t seen this much purple since A Vampyre Story. There are plenty of details as well, from the arrow-shaped carpet pointing to the engine room to the hot model posters (like I said, some things never change) above the bunk beds to the giant speaker horn of the intercom. It’s all silly and goofy, but beautifully done. Unfortunately, I never got off the Mazslow to explore any of the worlds to come, but I can’t wait to see what Ivancek has done with alien planets when he can invest this much character in just a hunk of travelling metal.

Speaking of characters, Brawe is exactly that: a character. With his bushy red beard and bursting with gung-ho bravado, determined to recite morale-boosting slogans for no one besides his exasperated, longsuffering crewman, Ensign Kralek, the Kaptain is unfailingly upbeat. And more than a little dense. He needs instruction manuals to repair even basic operations (which he’ll first have to find and then get translated), and he can’t even spell. His robot is named “Rowboat”, a ship sign points to “Kargo”, and even Brawe’s subtitles are sprinkled with intentional errors. Poor guy can’t even spell “A.S.A.P.” correctly. Think there’s some hidden meaning in the bizarre title spelling? Nope, just the product of a “moron” (as Kralek calls him) in charge of his own marketing, obviously. This flaw is a fun little gimmick in its own right, and as an added bonus, it should help cover up possible translation errors. It’s win-win for everyone!



Alas, those subtitles are all you get on the dialogue front. The orchestral music is wonderful, sometimes quirky and other times majestic, but there is no voice acting at all in Kaptain Brawe. The text font is clear and easy to click through, but it’s all done in silence. That’s a dealbreaker for some, and you know who you are. But I quickly adjusted, and the rather blatantly caricatured personalities made it easy to imagine voices for both Brawe and his crewman. The writing itself was rarely laugh-out-loud funny in the section I played, but did provide several chuckles and it’s all just so playfully lighthearted, it’s impossible not to be charmed by it. There are even some non-essential objects to click on strictly for giggles.

The interface is a snap, with a smart cursor bringing up a secondary icon group when clicked on interactive hotspots, allowing you to look at, talk to, or interact with objects. There’s an objective list with optional hints on how to proceed, and a hotspot highlighter prevents any need for pixel hunting, though all items the demo required were easy to distinguish. That’s good, as the bulk of the gameplay is inventory-based. I encountered one logic puzzle that nicely blended clues from two different sources, but mainly I was collecting items, some of which need to be combined in a distinct inventory screen. In fine “comic adventure” tradition, several solutions will strain real-world credibility, but the clues are clear and the logic straightforward in that “what would Brawe do?” kind of way. There’s nothing too taxing, just good fun. Of course, the sequence I played is from the beginning of the game, so it could very well get more difficult later on when the environments open up.

Whether it’s able to sustain its feel-good beginnings remains to be seen, but Kaptain Brawe is certainly a blast from the beloved old-school past that should definitely appeal to longtime adventure gamers. There isn’t long to wait, either, as the game is due for downloadable release on November 1st. In the meantime, let’s go a bit farther behind the scenes and probe the mysterious disappearance of the Kaptain and krew… err, crew. Tag-teaming for the interview are Cateia’s Ivan Bralic, Kresimir Spes, and Dejan Radic, plus the series creator, Petar Ivancek himself.