Campaign Ends: July 15
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Switch.
I happen to enjoy the bizarre gothic stylings of a certain director whose name rhymes with “Jim Blurton.” If you’ve also heard of this obscure chap, I invite you to enter the world of Whateverland, a new point-and-click game heavily inspired by his unique visual style.
Coming to you from the developers of The Great Perhaps, Whateverland chronicles the bad decisions of a mopey, black-clad expert thief named Vincent, recently caught stealing a necklace from an elegant old woman named Beatrice. Beatrice, as it turns out, is actually a witch, and promptly sends Vincent to our featured locale; a bizarre limbo of her own creation where inhabitants spend eternity dwelling on their poor life choices. Soon enough, Vincent runs into Nick, an overly cheerful little man wearing an Elizabethan frill collar, and the two of them set off to find the seven pieces of a spell which will enable them to return to reality.
Offering a degree of non-linearity seldom seen in the point-and-click genre, Whateverland will allow you to finish its chapters in any order you prefer. What’s more, chapters can be completed in one of two ways; either by helping the characters you meet, or by stealing key items from them. Your choices will influence your relationship with Nick, along with the game’s ending, providing plenty of replayability.
Whateverland is chock full of minigames to keep you entertained, including plenty of lockpicking, a pixel-graphic arcade game, and the chance to become an amateur tattoo artist. Though most importantly, you’ll be introduced to a turn-based tactical sports game known as Bell&Bones. A popular past time in this strange world, the game will have you control a team of “Bookashes,” tiny creatures made from the remains of Beatrice’s old spellbooks. You’ll face off against against a variety of opposing players, each with their own unique skills and personalized battlefields. To note, if turn-based sports games turn your smile upside down, all obligatory matches can be skipped using a “quick combat” option.
Whateverland‘s unique visuals and quirky characters will undoubtedly hold appeal for fans of eccentric and comical gothic tales. Meanwhile, the game’s replayability and plethora of delightful distractions promise something unusual in the point-and-click genre. If spooky, oddball tales are to your taste, I humbly invite you to Whateverland, though please make sure you have a solid exit plan; I can’t guarantee a safe return to reality.
Disclaimer: While it’s possible some of us at RPGFan may be backers of the games mentioned in these articles, this does not influence our coverage or our featured game choices. We make our selections simply based on the active campaigns we feel our readers might find interesting, and we are not given special access or perks by the developers.
tl;dr: We think these games show potential and want to share them with you.
