(Shock?) Preview: The Clockwork Man - The Hidden World

I really don't believe in the strict separation of the casual and the hardcore gamer, but I also am not particularly fond of those games that are explicitly described as casual themselves. As for them hidden object offerings, well, I've tried a couple, enjoyed their generally good art, but never really felt immersed or deeply interested; let alone wildly entertained.

I was thus more than skeptical when approaching the preview copy of The Clockwork Man: The Hidden World. It was supposedly a hidden object thingy, though admittedly one created by a developer that really excelled at the genre: Total Eclipse Games. And, yes, the teaser screenshots and trailers were definitely on the beautiful side of things and enough to get me initially interested. It apparently was a game of the steampunk persuasion too, that even claimed to sport some genre innovations and proper adventuring bits, that actually turned out to be rich enough to cover everything from inventory-based puzzles, to Myst-styled ones to exploring areas and interacting with characters.

Incredibly, and after playing through the first chapters of The Hidden World, I must admit this looks like a particularly impressive and shockingly deep game, with an interesting plot, great production values and some truly gorgeous graphics. What's more, the hidden object elements are well implemented -actually enjoyable!- and mostly serve as the inventory gathering part of most traditional adventures. As for the game's adventure elements themselves, well, they are definitely there and -from what I did see for this preview- work very well.

So, uhm, yes, I strongly suggest you give this one a try. Should you decide to pre-order it (you've got till the 21st of July), you'll also be getting a free copy of the original Clockwork Man game along with a lovely selection of digital extras, including both the PC and Mac versions of the game in their glorious DRM-free forms.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• King's Quest: The Silver Lining
• Digital: A Love Story
• Senscape unveils Asylum
• Darkstar - The Interactive Movie

Märklin HO and toy trains

Now, I'm not quite sure if most of the Gnome's Lair readers will be interested in little electrical models of trains and tiny model breweries, but, well, I thought that model-making is closely related to Warhammer and playing with toys is a sort of gaming too, so, uhm, please bare with me. After all, it's not everyday one discovers a forgotten hobby and this is exactly what happened to me yesterday, when me and the lady of the lair decided to unpack my ancient Märklin sets in order to design a coffee-table/diorama hybrid.

Yes, indeed. We'll be creative in a very hands-on way and hopefully come up with something beautiful, unique and very retro, as the origins of this very train-set are almost lost in antiquity. Or at least trace back to a few months after I was born...

The good news is, everything seems to work fine (yes, the trains, the crossings, the lamps, everything) and we'll start working immediately. Oh, and I'll be posting pictures and updates as regularly as possible. Hope you luvs enjoy this one too.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• The War on Terror
• Chronicles from the Warzone PDF
• Classic videogame Monopoly
• The Chaos Dwarfs

Meet Manic Miner

It has come to my attention that the majority of this blog's brilliantly smart and generally gorgeous readers are not, in fact, European, meaning that they most probably remain unaware of the classic platform game that was Manic Miner. This situation is of course unacceptable, as Manic Miner is my all-time favourite game of the genre and easily sits among my top 10 games ever. It also is a game everyone must play; preferably on the platform it was created for: the ZX Spectrum.

Manic Miner, the prequel to Jet Set Willy, in what can only be described as a really brief history lesson, was developed for the 8-bit ZX Spectrum back in 1983 by teen programmer and cult-icon Matthew Smith and published by Bug Byte, only to be later re-released by Software Projects (Smith's new company) and eventually get itself (officially) ported on almost everything that could load games, including the C64, the Amiga, the Oric-1, the Z88, the Amstrad CPC, the Dragon 32, Nintendo's GBA and even the Sam Coupe. Interestingly, most of these ports added new levels, new enemies and new ideas, which have finally been compiled into Manic Miner: In the Lost Levels; the best Nintendo DS game ever. But, as is customary, I digress.

The game itself was inspired by Bill Hogue's Miner 2049er and was a single-screen platform game, that saw Willy, Manic Miner's protagonist, jump over surreal enemies and deadly pits, collect keys and avoid a variety of traps in order to beat 20 incredibly difficult caverns (levels). And when I say difficult, I really mean it. I've been playing the Speccy version of Miner Willy (without cheats or emulator-based saves; yes, I do have my hardcore gaming fetishes too) for over 20 years and have reached the final level only twice. I can achieve the perfect playthrough of the first 10 caverns without even thinking, mind, but still can't beat the game with the meager three lives provided.

But, why do I persevere with it? Simple. The enjoyment provided is unequaled. Manic Miner, you see, is a masterfully crafted platformer; a true masterpiece in game design. It demands pixel-perfect precision and swift pattern recognition, yet is never unfair, boring or confusing. Each level is entirely unique both in mechanics and in appearance, utterly demented, has a ridiculous name ranging from Attack of the Mutant Telephones to The Menagerie, and features its very own assortment of enemies. And yes, the enemies have to be seen to be believed, as the game attacks gamers with an outrageous selection of baddies that includes mutant telephones, seals, Ewoks, Pac-Men, killer toilettes, Kong Beasts, penguins, safes and (much) more.

Then again, words can't do Manic Miner justice. You simply have to play it. Preferably with a Kempston-compatible joystick.

Find out more about Manic Miner over at Wikipedia, MobyGames, and of course World of Spectrum, where you can also download the game or even play an online emulated version. What's more, there are quite a few related Gnome's Lair posts that will definitely interest you:

• Matthew Smith video interview
• Willy and the first patch ever
• Jet Set Willy for non-Europeans
• The (now free) ZX Spectrum Book

The Gnome's Lair Nutso Competition

The time has come for the first ever Gnome's Lair competition, that will let us all recklessly celebrate, you know, the joys of life and indie creativity I guess. Anyway. Hooray for that, and hooray for your chance to win one whole and wholesome copy of the demented, excellent and gorgeous indie arcade-adventure (with puzzle bits in it) Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso by Steve Ince. And just to convince you of the quality of said prize, here's a link to the demo and one to my relatively recent review.

To enter the competition you can do one of the following things: a) make a tiny game/piece of art/photo that's somehow related to Mr. Smoozles or Gnome's Lair and mail it to me, b) write a blog (or twitter or facebook) post linking to your favourite Gnome's Lair article and leave a comment about it, and c) leave a comment here detailing which is your favourite Steve Ince game. Easy, eh? Well, at least it sounds interesting. You've got two weeks. 

Good luck everyone!

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• The evils of Phenomenon 32
• Super Fighter Team interview
• Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
• Snakes of Avalon meet Eternally Us

Eye^Game^Candy: Alone in the Dark

1992, the year the original and -by far- the best Alone in the Dark game was released, was also the year the modern survival horror was born. It even was the year that gave Lovecraft fans that were sick of text adventures something else to play with: a dark, atmospheric, skillfully paced, smart game with odd angles, atmospheric sounds and terrifying geometry. Looks brilliant and surreal to this day too.

King's Quest: The Silver Lining

Believe it or not, the first episode of The Silver Lining has been released! Yes, after years of legal troubles the talented indie heroes of Phoenix Online have made it and now you dear King's Quest starved adventurers can finally download and play TSL Episode One: What is Decreed Must Be via the Silver Lining site. A fully-3D and properly adventury episode where -once again- King Graham will have to save the day and pay a visit to everyone's favourite Green Isles.