A mysterious, eerie adventure

The Marionette is a spooky point and click adventure. It has all the advantages of independent development, and a few of the drawbacks too.

The story begins with you in an artist’s studio, at the end of a long day. Then out of the blue you are struck unconscious, waking in front of a strange house. You have to find out where you are, why, and how you can return home.

This is a traditional point and click adventure – you can interact, look at or talk to whatever you see on the screen, and occasionally use items with other objects to solve puzzles. While not too complex, but the controls seem pretty out of date – it really is like playing a game in the 1990s in that respect.

The graphics have a nice hand painted look to them, with very minimal animation. This is accompanied with atmospheric ambient music for a soundtrack. Despite the aged feel to the mechanics, this is still a pretty gripping experience. You will really want to find out what’s going on, and who the elusive and threatening ‘Alice´really is…

The artwork and story are what make The Marionette a good game. Some of the point and click gameplay is a bit arcane and just irritating. At one point I could see exactly what I had to do, but my character wouldn’t do it until I have looked (pointlessly) at everything else in the area. This type of ‘puzzle’ is annoying, as it is simply guesswork, and doesn’t allow you flexibility with your solutions.

Despite its drawbacks, the The Marionette has a strong enough storyline to keep players searching for answers.