Developer: Adipson Studio
Genre: Point and Click Adventure
Art Style: Drawing
Platforms: Steam, itch.io
Campaign: Kickstarter
Lower Pledge: 10 EUR (Early Backer)
In the first episode of the Point and Click Adventure series Magret & FaceDeBouc, two mismatched police inspectors take on a serious case, but they are not so serious themselves!
This presentation comes only a month after the conclusion of the first Kickstarter and while the second one is running. I had actually started writing the article when the previous campaign was still active, but posting it back then unfortunately wouldn’t change its fate!
Romuald Serrado (Adipson Studio) had to hope only for a miracle to raise 27000 euros. The launch of the campaign for the comedic and cartoonish, but mature Magret & FaceDeBouc “The buddy-buddy case” on October 23 was disheartening and its end on December 7 disastrous.
With this considerable amount of money, the French solo-dev and designer would cover the fees of the translators, who would edit the English and German texts. Romuald Serrado wrote initially everything in his native language and he used an online app for the translation to the other two languages. He also would want to hire English and German speaking voice actors. The demo of the game is fully-voiced in French.
The bar has been set low for the current Kickstarter! The 2000 euros will be used for the proofreading of the English texts by a professional translator. The same will happen with the German ones after the unlock of the first stretch goal at 4000 euros. Last but not least, 20000 euros will ensure the necessary funds for the voice-overs in English.
Romuald Serrado intends to develop a series of episodes, 4 to 6 hours each, starring inspectors Magret and FaceDeBouc. The pilot episode titled Magret & FaceDeBouc “The buddy-buddy case” is currently in development and will be released in the first quarter of 2024 on Steam and itch.io.
Inspector Magret, a duck, is calm, gentle, conscientious and squeamish. He works exclusively in the archive of the police department. For a reason that we will find out in the future, he hasn’t been assigned a case for years. On the other hand, Inspector FaceDeBouc, a billy goat, is noted for his rough manners, athyrostomy and zamanfou attitude towards life. What do these guys have in common? The chief of the police removed their badges and weapons.
Our two heroes are not well-respected by their superiors and colleagues and have not worked together in the past. In Magret & FaceDeBouc “The buddy-buddy case”, Captain Hishiro charges both of them with the investigation of the murder case of Mr. Couane in a surprise move. The victim was a pig. Literally!
By controlling Magret or FaceDeBouc, we will take advantage of their abilities and quirks. We will easily switch between characters by clicking on the icons with their faces on the top left corner of the screen. We also have to deal with two inventories and Magret can give an item to FaceDeBouc and vice versa.
Each of the two protagonists approaches dialogues differently and elicits different reactions and answers by the NPCs. In a way, we’re going to use the ‘good cop/bad cop’ interrogation tactic to our advantage.
It is also interesting that we will be able to move to another screen with one character and leave the partner behind, or move them both at the same time. The map helps in fast travelling to different areas of the city and seeing the positions of our friends.
I had a taste of the gameplay mechanics, as well as the comedic characters and events, by playing the demo hosted on the Adipson Studio website twice – once in French and once in English. I believe that all these features will be deployed well in the pilot episode of the series of games and its sequels.
If you want to know what to expect from the upcoming work by Romuald Serrado, you can give a try to GrandMa Badass, the mature Point and Click Adventure starring a seemingly innocent, but ruthless elderly woman, who deals with dangerous criminals in order to find her cat. The Adventure Games Studio is the engine of choice of the French dev.
In conclusion, the Kickstarter for Magret & FaceDeBouc “The buddy-buddy case” will end on January 31st. A new version of the demo will be uploaded to itch.io and Steam on February 5th, just in time for Steam Next Fest.
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