I meant to write about this game a week ago, but I struggled to find motivation. Turns out I was sick. Whoops. Anyway, Loco Motive was the last demo I played for the Oct 24 Next Fest. In good news, it’s now out so if you decide you like it, it’s available soon.

I choo choo choose you, Loco Motive.

I haven’t played a lot of point and click games. I didn’t get my first computer until I was about 14, so I missed out on all the point and click games as a kid. By the time I could play them, it was so obtuse that I had no idea what I was doing and loathed the games. However, I think the Loco Motive Demo may have changed my mind on that.
In the demo, players take control of Arthur Ackerman who is Lady Unterwald’s hapless attorney. Aboard the Reuss Express, the Unterwald’s flagship steam train, Arthur’s role is to hold onto the important documents and ensure everything is legal. This doesn’t work out so well when Lady Unterwald requests his presence to make some adjustments to the will and successorship. Due to Arthur’s mishap, the will ends up going missing, which is something only Arthur knows. To make matters worse, Lady Unterwald is killed right before announcing the legal successor making the loss a little more dramatic. In the main game, players will control two other characters aside from Arthur. These are wannabe detective Herman Merman, and Diana the spy. The three of them are suspects in the murder and must solve the mystery of who the actual murderer is to clear their name.

This isn’t a serious game in the slightest and takes absolute joy at making fun of everything and itself. Arthur isn’t a small man, yet he somehow fits into a tiny space under a sink. It’s amusing in its absurdness. Something that often turns people off point and clink adventure games is that must be done to the letter exactly as the developer designed it. This can lead to players becoming stuck if they’re unaware of what is considered normal for a Point and Click. Loco Motive solves this by having an in-game help line where players can get their hints from. I used this a few times during the demo because I knew what I was supposed to do, but not the individual steps to get there. This is a nice consideration from the developers and allows people who might enjoy the game, but dislike point and clicks, to play anyway. I ended up playing the demo until the end and I would absolutely play the full game when it releases soon.