PC Gamer - UK 2020-04)

B

eforetheWeb,therewas
Hypercard,asystemforthe
Macthatusedinnovative
hyperlinkstoshuntusersbetween
content cards.Thesecardscould
have containedfacts,contact
details, ormonochromepictures–
or they mighthavecompriseda
point andclickadventuregame.
WithoutHypercardtherewouldbe
no Myst,and,probably,noMadness
of the CoastalStructure,thelatest
from acclaimedinteractivefiction
author Porpentine.

Built usingtheHypercard
Framework,Madnessisatext
adventurethatfeelsextremelyearly
’90s. It isn’tjusttheHypercard
stylings –whicharecrammedwith
beautifulpixeliconography–butalso
the setting,whichbringstomindthe
classic Infocomadventures.
The realmofMadnessisn’ta
cohesiveone.Centaursrubshoulders

withenchantedpopbands,strange

machinesandotheroddities.It’sa

gamecrammedfullofmemorable

sights,andwithplayfulwritingthat

makesthemostofeveryencounter.

Afterarrivinginajungle,yousoon

findyourselfexploringanimposing

towerthat’satoncemodern,

futuristicandfantastical.You’llroll

diceandimprovestatsandcometoa

stickyend,probablylotsoftimes.

Yep,thisisoneofthoseadventures

thatwantsyoudead.

Thiscouldbeannoying,butitisn’t

intheleast.Madnesshasthegood

gracetosmileasitshivsyoubetween

theribs.Thedeathsareprobablythe

bestbit,writtenwithobviousglee–

andyoucanalwaysreload,orrewind,

toreturntolife.Perhapsthe

atmosphereisabitthin.Youmay

loveorhatetheself-aware

tone.Butthisiswhatit’s

likewhenadevishaving

funmakingagame.

82

HYPER-AWARE

Fall to the MADNESS OF THE COASTAL STRUCTURE

EXPECTTOPAY

Free

DEVELOPER

Porpentine

LINK porpentine.itch.io/

coastal-structure

NEED TO KNOW

You can find loads of old Hypercard

games preserved online.

With its die rolls and stats, the

game resembles Fighting Fantasy.

I

’msureeverymusiciancould
do withaninfinitepractice
room:aplacetostore,andof
course play,everyintriguing-
looking instrumentthatcomes
along. HauntedGarage,asyou’ve
probablyguessed,doesjustthat,by
giving youanendlesswhitevoidin
which youcanstashacollectionof
fictional instruments.

The absolutebestpartofthispeculiar
adventuregameisplayingwiththose
devices, clickingoneachtoconnect
wires andflipswitchesandtwist
dials, to seewhatnoisesyoucan
produce. Theyallplayatthesame
tempo, andcanbeleftaloneonce
cajoled intolife,creatingan
automatedorchestra.You’rea
scientist, atinkerer.Akidinatoy
shop, pushingallthebuttonstosee
what happens.
But that’sonlyhalfthestory.Click
on a doorinsidethevoidandyou’ll

betakentotheworldoutside,which

isfullofmissingitems,andpeople

seekingthem.So,youscrollaround,

youclickonthings(inthemannerof

ahiddenobjectgame),andyouferry

theitemsbacktothem.

Inreturnyou’regivennew

instruments:abighonkingorgan

thing,oraheftydrummachine,even

amanholdingacoupleofwooden

sticks.Youplacethesewhereveryou

careto,thenyoucoaxthemintolife.

It’sstrangelycompellingtobeleft

alonewithallthesetactiledevices.

HauntedGarageisanattractive,

whimsicaladventuregamewith

interestingscenery,andnochallenge

tospeakof.Butit’salsoanabsorbing

musicgamefeaturingsomeofthe

bestvirtualinstrumentsmoneycan’t

buy.You’llfinishtheadventurebits

justtogettothemusic

ones,toreturntoyour

rapidlyexpanding

instrumentcollection.

84

GARAGE ROCK

Tinker with instruments in HAUNTED GARAGE

EXPECTTOPAY

Free

DEVELOPER

GamesForGhosts

LINKhauntedgarage.

itch.iohaunted-garage

NEEDTOKNOW

Therearecharacters, but the

instrumentsaremorefleshed-out.

The world beyond.

It’s a bit of a dump.

FREE GAMES REVIEW