Imaginarylab and VLG Publishing have figured out how to blend nostalgia with contemporary style in the new point-and-click adventure Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town. Set in a fantasy pirate village, Bone Town, the game centers on Willy Morgan, a teenager looking to learn more about his father's mysterious disappearance ten years previously. Players will need to navigate Willy's surreal world, which combines 2D and 3D cartoon graphics, to find missing pieces of a treasure map and discover what really happened to his father all those years before.
The game gets a slow start as it tries to introduce players to the mechanics. In traditional point-and-click adventure style, players will search for and take various objects, combine them in zany ways to make new tools and items, and solve puzzles to find the next clues. The puzzles pose a challenge, but the highly accessible hints function makes sure nothing is ever unsolvable. Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is not without its flaws, but the compelling narrative and interesting puzzles, combined with the nostalgic feeling of the art and gameplay, make for an enjoyable experience.
The weakest point of the game is undoubtedly its opening. When players first begin, they are greeted by exposition from Willy explaining that it is the anniversary of his father's disappearance and that his mother has gone away on an archaeological expedition. Willy receives a note in the form of a paper airplane that appears to be from his father, instructing him to travel to Bone Town and find the Dead Man Inn. To get there, Willy needs transportation, and players must navigate the family home and reassemble a bicycle whose pieces have been scattered in the most random of places.
There is a little more dawdling at the home than is necessary. While the challenge of putting the bicycle back together helps players get accustomed to solving some of the more difficult puzzles in the game, it delays the start of the adventure and might turn players off to the world and its mystery. This would be a shame, given as soon as Willy makes it to Bone Town, the mystery quickly picks up.
While it is clear Willy's character is that of a somewhat reserved and awkward teen still growing into himself, much of his dialogue feels forced. After spending some time in his world, it becomes easier to deal with, and his attempts at sarcasm even have a bit of charm. Still, sometimes lines will feel out of place and can break the immersion of the experience, reminding players there are developers behind the screen trying to help explain to them what to do next.
The other characters range in quality. Players will likely immediately take interest in the Dead Man Inn Innkeeper, whose gruff exterior and apparent ties to whoever or whatever caused Willy's father to go missing creates an investing sense of terror and suspense. However, other characters, like Librarian Margaret Teach, feel less fleshed-out and are more archetypal in their roles, characteristics, and dialogue. Overall, though, this is a strength of the game, not a weakness, and given the nature of point-and-click, the characters remaining compelling is a major boon.
With all that said, the gameplay is excellent. Even if point-and-click gameplay can be mundane at times these days, the game never threatens to bore. Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is reminiscent of some of the best point-and-click games from the last two decades. The world is open enough to encourage free exploration but contained enough not to feel overwhelming when working to solve puzzles and use inventory items. The story and mystery are compelling, and just enough hints are provided to keep the tension and suspense high while Willy is left unaware of the danger.
For fans of the point-and-click games of old, and for anyone looking for a charming, investing mystery to unravel, Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is a creative, well-crafted reminder that even the simplest game mechanics still hold up today.
Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is available for PC. A Steam code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of review.