This month you can travel to the stars in pursuit of snack food or delve the depths of the ocean as a zombie pirate captain. If you prefer psychological adventures, you might wish to meet the new patient at a most unusual asylum or help a man delve deep into his own psyche. Perhaps you’d rather hunt a dark version of Red Riding Hood or rescue a hapless vampire from military experimentation. Or you could just take a film crew to the frozen north to find the life of a Yeti isn’t exactly as you expected it to be. All these await you in this month’s round-up of releases from the freeware scene.

The Asylum: Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys

When the troubles of the world weigh us down, there is one group of friends that will always be there to listen to our woes, our faithful cuddly toys. Unfortunately for our plushie friends, this loyalty also means that they will be there when we need some outlet for our frustrations in life. It is little wonder that many of those so cruelly abused descend into some form of insanity. But there is hope for our stuffed companions. The Asylum, run by Dr Kinderman, specialises in dealing with the psychiatric issues of toys. Now he is away on a research project, so it is up to you to nurse these widely varied patients back to health.

This long-standing surreal but thought-provoking game from Parapluesch has expanded again with a new patient this month. The graphics continue to be done in the same cartoon-like but semi-realistic style as before. The institute itself is a bright, clean-looking place with white linen on the examination bed and a potted plant against the wall. The imagery in dream analyses is often altogether stranger, reflecting the warped state of mind of the patients. Animations are fluid throughout, from the glove puppet used for psychiatric interviews to the twitches of the troubled inmates. Sound effects are appropriate to the on-screen action, including mumbling sounds for conversation. Some dream sequences also include music such as “The Blue Danube”.

What has always been impressive about this game is that once you accept cuddly toys have thoughts and feelings, the traumas they suffer flow logically from this concept. There are now six patients altogether, each having their own storyline. Treatment involves selecting from a list of available therapies and carefully considering the results and what they mean. Actions include the psychiatric interview, administration of drugs and motivation therapy. The main tool you use over and over is dream therapy. Using this results in a short cutscene showing the patient’s interior world. These sequences start surreal and get closer to the actual events causing the problem as treatment progresses. A meter on your therapy list tracks your progress. This can go into decline if incorrect treatments are chosen, leading to a failure and restart if things go really badly. The new patient, a bird called Dr Wood, proves an especially difficult case. As the first toy psychiatrist, he knows the tricks of the trade and will brook no nonsense from you.

The Asylum: Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys can be played online at the developer’s website.

Keys of a Gamespace

Whilst he still calls her Princess, it has been a long time since Sebastien paid serious attention to his lady love. Video games are his job, and too many nights of him sitting in front of a computer have taken their toll. When she issues an ultimatum and storms out, he realises that the time has come to sort his life out. Delving into his own psyche and the past events that have shaped him, Sebastien must come to a decision about his future. But this may not prove an easy task, as dark secrets await in the lower recesses of his mind.

Expressive have created a game which, whilst relatively short, is still highly thought-provoking. The graphical style is that of pastel drawing, with the otherwise normal human characters completely devoid of facial characteristics. This artistic style is carried further in some of the inner flashback scenes, including one that is reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. Despite their lack of faces, all characters move around smoothly. Meanwhile, dramatic music plays in the background, suiting the gravitas of the story being played out.

Your descent into Sebastien’s inner mind is represented by groups of doors. In each case, one of the doors will lead you further on, the other doors taking you to events in Sebastien’s past life. Controlled entirely through point-and-click, the handful of puzzles in the game involve taking things from one era into another. In some cases this is a physical object but in others they are pieces of knowledge that open up new lines of dialogue with other characters. Solving the last puzzle in an area gives you the means to open the final door and continue onwards. The story has some dark adult themes, making it unsuitable for young children, and ultimately you will find yourself making choices that determine Sebastien’s future.

Keys of a Gamespace can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Bamba Snack Quest 3

Aliens are here, and they want to steal our snack food! One victim of these nefarious other-worldly burglars is Bamba, an innocent baby. Not only have these extra-terrestrial fiends stolen a bag of his favourite snack food, they have also kidnapped his faithful squirrel companion who tried to recover it. Setting off in hot pursuit, our diminutive hero aims to retrieve both food and friend in a space-spanning escapade.

Mitoza’s third episode in this advertising series proves that promotional content is no bar to a good game. The art style combines real elements with detailed hand-drawn items to create a cohesive whole. The game starts in a suburban back garden but soon progresses to an airborne UFO and ultimately the alien’s mountain fortress. These locations are all rendered with striking amounts of detail, including well-animated characters and machines. Sound consists of effects appropriate to the location, such as the whoosh of air past the low-flying UFO, and character dialogue comprised mostly of noises with the occasional Hebrew phrase.

Whilst the protagonist is a small child, this is definitely not a simple game. Even though each of the six chapters only consists of two or three locations, a wealth of puzzling awaits. You’ll operate alien machinery, decipher complex lock mechanisms and use a variety of objects. Having only a nappy to his name, the baby protagonist does not have an inventory, instead holding one object at a time for use in the environment. In two chapters you will also get to control the squirrel, the actions of both characters being vital to success. There are a couple of timing puzzles, though nothing that requires lightning quick reactions. Completing a chapter unlocks the next part, allowing players to return to the game at a later date if desired.

Bamba Snack Quest 3 can be played online at Jayisgames.

Draculator 2: Byte of the Draculator

When Captain Merrick met up with the gorgeous vampire twins, he thought it would be a good idea to let them turn him into a vampire. Unfortunately for him, his military superiors saw great weapon potential in his undead state. Now, imprisoned in a secret facility with bionic implants grafted to his body, Merrick dreams only of escape. His vampire powers should assist in this endeavour but his vampire weaknesses could prove a problem.

Thirty-nine AGS developers combined as SWARMAGS to make this darkly humorous game. The basic graphics feature a classic low-res style with more than enough detail to set the scene of a dark underground base. These graphics are also nicely animated, and cutscene conversations treat us to more detailed close-ups of the characters, which are equally well animated. The game is fully voiced, from the mock Transylvanian accent of Merrick himself to the wonderfully over-the-top mad English scientist experimenting on him. A rocking vampire movie-theme tune rounds out the package.

This is a comedy horror game that sets its tone early with poodle blood being fed to Merrick to make him as docile as the dog. This idea that the blood he drinks has some effect on his vampire nature is key to many of the puzzles in the game, though clever inventory use and some military technology also plays a part. Point-and-click controls are used, with right-click to look and left-click to interact, calling up the menu and inventory if used on yourself. Everything from the voice acting to the obstacles you face are very much tongue-in-cheek, including the title referring to a prior episode that does not exist. The ending leaves the possibility of future adventures for this character, and I hope this team will collaborate again to bring us more tales of the cyborg bloodsucker.

Draculator 2: Byte of the Draculator can be downloaded from the AGS website.