Lord Winklebottom Investigates sticks its neck (and demo) out for crowdfunding
A tall tale indeed
Frog Detectives? Pah, amateurs. We all know that the most respected of all animal sleuths is the humble (if very tall and glad you noticed) Giraffe Investigator. Lord Winklebottom Investigates is an amusingly daft point and click adventure, as British as it is zoological. Imagine if Sherlock Holmes was a giraffe (and not just thinking he was after an opium bender), and Watson was a hippo and you're most of the way there. Now take a look at this here Kickstarter page, where developers Cave Monsters hope to raise enough to finish the game. Also try the demo here, and see a trailer below.
The demo is more of a prototype/vertical slice than just a chunk from the final game. They've got a lot of improvements planned before launch, including revised voice acting, animation, an in-game note system and more, but it should give you a rough idea of how the game works. It's classic point-and-click adventure stuff, but with a minimalist interface. Look/Use/Talk verbs for interacting with the world and people, and you just drag and drop items from your inventory bar to the world to use them. Simple and effective.
The few puzzles I've cracked in the demo (I've not completed it yet) did make me smile. They're not too complicated, but the banter between the two leads is amusing - very dry and British, delivering some awful jokes with utter deadpan seriousness. There also seems to be some weirdness about the setting beyond the talking animals - they refer to a human skull as belonging to some horrible prehistoric monster, and the trailer suggests they'll be building on that concept. I've always had a soft spot for serious deep dives into absurd scenarios - it's part of Hatoful Boyfriend's appeal, after all.
Throwing £20 (once the £15 early bird slots sell) at the Lord Winklebottom Investigates Kickstarter gets you a copy of the game when it's finished. Cave Monsters reckon that'll be done by April next year, but just about anything can happen with crowdfunding. The Kickstarter demo is here on Itch, and you can also find the game on Steam here.