Indie Spotlight – The Abandoned Planet lets you explore the unknown in a point-and-click pixel odyssey

Story Highlights

The Abandoned Planet brings stunning pixel-art visuals and atmospheric exploration across hundreds of unique, interactive locations.
Relive the nostalgia of point-and-click classics with fresh twists.
Developer Jeremy Fryc discussed details behind the inpsiration, personal vision, and more interesting details.

As a seasoned gamer with years of experience under my belt, I must say that The Abandoned Planet has truly captured my heart and imagination. This game, the brainchild of one man – the talented and visionary Jeremy Fryc, is a testament to what can be achieved when passion meets persistence.

The Abandoned Planet brings to us players an old-school adventure game that ticks all the boxes necessary for an immersive title. Released recently across Android and iOS, the game’s visuals are enough alone to immserse you into a narrative puzzle experience. While I have plenty of thoughts to share, let’s also hear directly from the developers about the game’s compelling storytelling and richly atmospheric world.

Featured Column – Indie Spotlight

Gaming on Phone’s “Indie Spotlight” highlights up-and-coming small game studios and developers, providing them with well-deserved recognition and exposure within the independent gaming scene. In this special feature, we offer comprehensive summaries, as well as insights and opinions from the creators themselves. If you’re an indie studio, don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions at editor@gamingonphone.com.

Overview: Explore the land of the lost

As a captivated explorer, I found myself catapulted into an enigmatic odyssey when a wormhole cast me adrift on an alien world devoid of life in “The Abandoned Planet”. My spaceship lay in shambles, and the only clues to my predicament were scattered around this desolate realm. I was compelled to decipher the riddles and crack the codes concealed within this forsaken planet to reveal its secrets and find my way back to the familiar comforts of home.

Indie Spotlight – The Abandoned Planet lets you explore the unknown in a point-and-click pixel odyssey

In a nut-shell, this pixel-art, perspective-based game with interactive elements brings together the captivating allure of classics like Myst and Riven, along with the endearing appeal found in LucasArt’s adventure games from the 90s. The 2D artwork recaptures that nostalgic sensation, but the contemporary flair from the artists adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the experience.

With numerous settings, stunning graphics, and intriguing brainteasers, this game delivers a sentimental journey with fresh twists tailored for fans of adventure games. The initial act can be played at no cost, serving as an ideal starting point for those who wish to dip their toes before diving in.

Why you should play The Abandoned Planet

You get to experience stunning pixel-art visuals and atmospheric exploration in an alien world.
There are hundreds of unique locations to discover and interact with.
A chance to relive the classic point-and-click adventure style with a fresh twist.
Fully voiced dialogues enhance the immersive storytelling, putting life into the characters.
Text of the game comes with 10+ localized languages.

Developer Insights: The story of inspiration and challenges

The lone game developer Jeremy Fryc, founder of Dexter Team Games, spoke to us about their latest release and shed light on the inspiration, his individual perspective, hurdles encountered during production, and upcoming strategies.

Inspiration behind the title, the challenges of a solo dev

I became intrigued after reading the game’s summary, so I inquired from Jeremy about what sparked him to blend the traditional puzzle-solving aspects reminiscent of games like Myst and Riven with the comic flair of 90s LucasArts titles. Jeremy disclosed that games such as Myst and Riven hold a significant impact on the gaming world, and being an ardent adventure game enthusiast, it’s challenging to ignore their mark.

In his conversation, he pointed out that when Myst was initially launched, many players struggled to leave the first island due to its challenging nature, as there weren’t any online guides or walk-throughs available yet. However, Fryc observed that most gamers were able to finish LucasArts games or at least advance more in them compared to Myst.

He mentioned: “Given how much I value stories, my goal is for players to engage and complete my games to witness the narrative unfold. Therefore, I’ve combined a gameplay style reminiscent of Myst, which is highly immersive, with puzzles that are less challenging, similar to those found in LucasArts games.

Jeremy briefly outlines the hurdles he encountered and his strategies for managing them. He admitted that harmonizing his ardor for game development with his full-time job and family responsibilities was his most significant difficulty. He expressed:

The idea of an expansive world

In simpler terms, the game’s amazing graphics demonstrate the tremendous work put into creating an eye-catching spectacle, sparking my interest in understanding the secret methods used to create it. To address your query, Jeremy explained his strategy for designing the vast universe of The Abandoned Planet, working as a single developer.

Initially, Fryc penned down the story. By doing so, he found it simpler for designing purposes because knowing the end helped him envision the pathway to take. Subsequently, he roughly divided his notebook into small sections, symbolizing each location’s anticipated content. This aided him in deciding the amount of distinct artwork required for each region. Next, he crafted elaborate high-definition versions of those sketches and fine-tuned them as needed to guarantee a cohesive flow between all parts.

At this initial stage of design, I primarily visualize the majority of the puzzles in my mind. Subsequently, I transfer these sketches into Unity to get a sense of movement within the location. This process helps me make any necessary adjustments. Lastly, I focus on creating the final artwork, piece by piece, Act by Act.

In each Act, Jeremy would work on the artwork first, then solve the initial versions of all the puzzles. Once he finished an Act this way, he’d move on to the next Act’s artwork, repeating the process until the entire game was done. This approach allowed him to always have a sense of what the final product might look like throughout the development process.

Fulfilling personal visions and future expectations

Most game designers are constantly brainstorming ideas for their upcoming projects, and Jeremy has already planned out an entire 5-game series called The Abandoned Planet. He’s aware of the genre for each game, the overarching story, and even how characters from one game will appear in another. Essentially, this is a connected universe within his game design.

In his own words, he’s working on a captivating tale that strikes a chord with gamers and leaves them exclaiming, “I can hardly believe it!” He also mentioned that the climax of The Abandoned Planet, if you’ve played Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space, is quite shocking. He’s steadily moving forward in developing this five-part narrative series.

Jeremy expresses his desire for players to relish their exploration and interaction with The Abandoned Planet, and he hopes they manage to finish it. He’s particularly keen on players wanting to continue the storyline, as he isn’t aware of any other developer creating something similar. He hopes they acknowledge its uniqueness and are eagerly anticipating more from the series!

As for the forthcoming material, Fryc assured that The “Deserted World” has been fully developed and crafted, implying no further expansion is planned for this particular game. Yet, he hints that figures hailing from The “Deserted World” will make appearances in his upcoming projects.

In summary, he implies that if another installment follows, it would make five games in his series, and for now, he’s working on Dexter Stardust: Odyssey in Outer Space (previously known as Returns to Outer Space, but will be renamed). After this project, he plans to move onto a game tentatively titled It Came from the Deep, which could potentially serve as a direct sequel. However, he assures us that there won’t be any spoilers revealed in his discussions about it.

Final Verdict from the Editor

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The Forsaken World delivers an extraordinary fusion of engaging gameplay and intriguing narrative. Developed single-handedly by Jeremy Fryc, it showcases his dedication to crafting a cohesive universe filled with distinctive characters. Although the game stands as content-full at present, it’s evident that this is merely the start of an enthralling epic. If you’re fond of adventure games, there’s plenty here to captivate and leave you eager for upcoming installments. Grab the game on Android and iOS devices.

2024-11-29 11:11