I’m always on the lookout for an interesting game with a unique angle, even if I’m not usually a fan of the genre it’s being made for. In the case of The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti it’s an action-adventure platforming music game where you play as the titular character on a quest to distance himself from his folk legend uncle and to make a name for himself. While I’m not much of a fan of platformers I do love what little that I’ve seen in the pitch to overlook the gameplay style and take the plunge.

The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti

What finally sold me on taking a closer look at The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti is the look and feel of the story. Our hero takes a trip through the strange and mystical multiverse as he tries to find his own sound. It’s full of colorful characters and creatures that instantly made me think of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands. There anything can happen and the artwork of the game invoked in me the wonderment of places that I’ve read in these stories. In short, it’s a trip down weird lane with several stops along the way.

The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti

While the artwork was enough to keep my attention, being a game about music the audio in The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti has to be even more a work on the senses. And having tried out the “samples” provided I can only say this. The ability to mix and match audio from things that you capture and record can make some great melodies. This aspect of the game brings me back to my days playing other games with this as a central focus and it’s a good thing. Everything that I’ve seen so far is a beautiful assault on the senses and is worth checking out for that alone.

Track the progress of the Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti in our Campaign Calendar.

About the Author

Serena Nelson

Serena has been a gamer since an early age and was brought up with the classic adventure games by Sierra On-Line, LucasArts, and Infocom. She's been an active member on Kickstarter since early 2012 and has backed a large number of crowdfunded games, mostly adventures. You can also find her writing for Kickstart Ventures and evn.moe.

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