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The Knobbly Crook: Chapter 1 – The Horse You Sailed In On

Words and phrases like “surreal”, “bordering on insanity” and “funny” are often thrown at games which aren’t really any of these things, or are, but are almost unplayable. In the Knobbly Crook, the surreal and insanity parts are there, but wrapped up in a charming and funny package which makes it an absolute treat to play.

You play as O’Sirus the Snip, a humble (well… sort of) paper farmer who finds himself on trial for crimes he has not yet committed and thrown into an adventure as a stowaway aboard a ship that is half horse, half whale and half boat which is taking him further and further away from his goal, The Knobbly Crook, which was given to him by a disembodied voice and a sort of “speak your weight” justice machine, along with fellow Knobble-Crookians (sort of half organic half machine beings) and even a real life Bogold… look you’re just going to have to play it if you want to understand any of this!

At present only episode 1 is available and you can get it for free on Steam or (if you’re not a client based DRM sort of person) DRM-free from the Developer’s or AGS website. Episode 2 and 3 are in production (and being joined into one longer episode) and it gives every sign of being actively worked on so should be worth your time investment in that regard.

The game itself looks great and since the initial release has been updated to include voice acting (which makes the slight “League of Gentlemen” type feel to the game stronger). The voice acting really adds something to the game so even if you have played it before without voices it is definitely worth playing through again.

It is short, maybe 30 minutes (although if like me you fail to notice that there are separate “use” and “pick up” cursor icons this may be longer ) but very high quality and it’s no surprise it has ended up on steam.

Otherwise, life has been busy for me recently so sorry for not replying to people for a few weeks. On a personal level things are beginning to settle down so hopefully I will have more time, and the new direction (i.e. no longer being a lawyer) feels like the best decision I have ever made!