Take Stranger Things and The Goonies, mash them together, and you get last year’s mildly disappointing Echo Generation. Also: this year’s Unusual Findings, a 16-bit style pixel art adventure.
Also citing The Lost Boys as an influence, Unusual Findings takes us back to the days of VHS rentals and 8-bit video games. It’s a coming-of-age story, set in a small town with extra-terrestrial happenings. Helping to keep the ‘80s vibe live, licensed music will feature – including “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive.
The story sees the dim-witted trio Vinny, Nick, and Tony discover a distress signal from a downed UFO while messing around with a cable TV descrambler. Together, they go in search of the crashed craft, only to find something that puts their lives in danger. ET has turned rogue!
A non-linear point ‘n click experience is promised, with dialogue choices that impact relationships and areas that you may not even discover on a single playthrough. Locations mentioned so far include the neighbourhood arcade, a comic book shop, and a video rental outlet.
“The movies, music, and games of the ‘80s and early ‘90s were more than merely ‘great’—they sparked our curiosity, sharpened our minds, and set the stage for the people we would become,” said Hernan Lopez, game designer at Epic Llama.
“If that sounds like you, consider Unusual Findings both our love letter and a way of giving back to the era that made us—an adventure game steeped in warm nostalgia that approaches the genre with modern flourishes,” they continued.
Unusual Findings is out 12th October on all formats for $19.99, developed by Epic Llama and published by the newly founded ESDigital Games.