Crystal Shard Adventure Bundle

Very much enjoyed all three puzzles, especially Larry Lotter! The time-control mechanic was quite fun. The first and third games required some note-taking so I could get the items/timing right, but that was part of working through the puzzles. I've owned this one for a few years now, but I'm glad I finally played it!

Well, they're not the greatest adventure games I ever played, sure, but the studio put out the wonderful free game Heroine's Quest, which was a rather exceptional game all-round, and worth rewarding with a purchase.

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This bundle consists of 3 quite short but very difficult games. Trial and error is your friend here. Other than that, I enjoyed playing them. The puzzles are decent and the stories are very funny. Till next time, don't forget to point & click!

Three short adventure games, each with their own different gameplay hook. The writing borders on clever but skews towards functional rather than funny. Quest for Yrolg was interesting, but I got stuck in several places trying to figure out how it actually worked. I thought it at least had the strongest characterization and I laughed out loud at the anti-tutorial. Starship Quasar is by far the most straightforward, with sort of a Live A Live vibe I enjoyed. Larry Lotter had the strongest gameplay, but felt out of place; in a Sierra parody we've got Quest for Glory, Space Quest, and... Harry Potter? It's really not playing off of Leisure Suit Larry. I think the ideas here are fairly strong, but separating them into different games makes me want to see a full single game that has the strengths of all three, rather than bite sized pieces that don't tie together. That being said I'll need to check out their other titles. These short adventures have the spark but need the polish.

It's got some good gameplay ideas, but none of these were home runs for me. And man, it's honestly embarrassing to be playing a MAD-level Harry Potter spoof in this decade. Only worth it if you really, really want to check out some indie adventure game experiments (which to be fair, is why I got it).