There are very few games out there that deal with Christmas, at least few good games. In truth there are lots of reason for this, the fact that it’s a season that barely lasts a month, the fact that no-one wants to put a bunch of time and money into a game that people are only going to want during such a specific time period. Luckily it seems like one company is set to change that, with their new game: Watch Over Christmas.
Watch ‘Watch Over Christmas’
Watch Over Christmas is an upcoming point and click adventure game from Dionous Games, inspired by the classic adventure games of yesteryear. It is a classical story of how a young boy goes on a magical adventure on Christmas Eve to save Christmas itself.
So far the game is pencilled in for a 2019 release date and is pretty early on in development, but a free demo was distributed back in February and is available to download for free from their website. It clearly shows the vision that Dionous Games have for Watch Over Christmas, and indicated how much raw potential the game has.
A Magical Christmas Adventure
The story of the demo follows Cisco, a young boy on Christmas Eve. When his mother tells him to go to bed so that he can wake up bright and early to open his presents he is contacted by a mysterious voice through his radio. The voice tells him that Christmas is in danger and only he can save it! So the mysterious adventure begins as Cisco must investigate the magical glow in his attic, and do his best to save Christmas.
The artwork in Watch Over Christmas is very reminiscent of a lot of classic adventure games. It has elements from Discworld, from Sam and Max and even The Secret of Monkey Island. The art is all hand drawn, beautifully coloured, and designed with an exaggerated cartoon aesthetic. The amount of time and effort put into the visuals makes the whole game feel like taking a step back in time, in the best possible way.
A scene in the attic in particular feels exactly like something that happens in the first Monkey Island title, and Ron Gilbert himself could not have done it better. Watch Over Christmas even has the classic verb/inventory interface that older adventure games were famous for, and the right click auto-look feature.
Still Early Days
The game is still in it’s very early stages, and the demo itself is not without it’s problems. There are a few moments where the dialogue feels a little stale, some of the text for certain objects is missing and you can only really click on about 3 or 4 objects in total. Regardless of the flaws it may have, the Watch Over Christmas demo is worth playing for any point and click fans who need more Christmas in their lives.
You can download the demo over at the creators website and keep up to date with development by following them on twitter, facebook and instagram.
