The SnarfQuest Tales Demo Breaks the Fourth Wall

[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never heard of the Snarf comic strip for Dragon Magazine, although I am familiar with the periodical. I’ll also admit to not being familiar with the name of Larry Elmore. Before you strip me of my roleplaying cred, though, bear in mind that I never got seriously into it until the late ’90s. Which means that it was before my time. With that said, I’d love to rectify that gross oversight by at least taking a look at the point and click adventure game SnarfQuest Tales and its demo. With that said, read on while I try to find back copies of the strip somewhere on the Internet. And flog myself for not doing this sooner.

All right. Now for the demo itself. Apparently SnarfQuest Tales follows more-or-less with the comics in that the titular character sets out on a quest for fame and glory. And it starts out with him infiltrating some powerful wizard’s domain to steal his magical wand. Cue snarky laugh, as we’re all thinking naughty things with that last sentence. Anyway, he teleports in and is immediately confronted with a formidable guard drag….um, duck. Believe me, you don’t want to question it or you’re gonna be toast. I made that mistake when I first talked to Willie.

So, the guard…duck (sigh) won’t let him into the treasure room that houses said artifact and Snarf has to go on a quest in the castle to distract it with…sigh…stale bread. Yeah, the demo is filled with cringe inducing jokes and plenty of fourth wall shattering comments. But, I’ll get to that in a moment. And so, battling a black pepper obsessed cook, a deranged scullery maid who thinks he’s a unicorn, and literal skeletons in the closet he manages to purloin said baked good and return it to Willie. Who immediately starts pecking at the crumbs. It’s not a very long demo, but it’s worth trying out just for the uncomfortable laughs.

If you’re looking for a fantasy comedy game to back today then you certainly can’t go wrong with SnarfQuest Tales. It’s full of puns and bad jokes that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. I certainly don’t shy away from corny jokes and bad puns and I felt right at home while playing. If there’s one gripe that I have with the experience is the control scheme. While I had no problem pointing and clicking where to move Snarf it felt a bit awkward having the camera automatically move around with him. Of course, I’m also used to having more static screens or moving with the arrow keys.

The price of admission is about right. Most adventure games generally have $15 or thereabouts for a digital copy via Kickstarter and SnarfQuest Tales is no exception. With roughly a month left on the clock the game is just under halfway funded and I’d hate to see this one not make it. Not just because it’s another adventure game that deserves to see the light of day but…okay, that’s probably the main reason for me. Still, try out the demo for yourself and consider helping out.