Tachyon Dreams Anthology

From the developer of the acclaimed adventures “Blood Nova” and “Twilight Oracle”, comes a new (or in fact renewed) retro-adventure in text-parser style. “Tachyon Dreams” puts you in the shoes of a space dishwasher named Dodger, who finds himself in the midst of an adventure that will decide the future (and past, even) of entire civilizations – though despite the epic scope of the story, the game itself is short and rather minimalistic. It is most resembling to the early Sierra adventures, particularly the first three Space Quests, except here the atmosphere is not that much humorous, rather I had a feeling of light melancholy from it. Game is done in EGA graphics that is traditional for this subgenre, with well-designed scenes, and also according to tradition there is almost no music with the exception of title screen and end credits. Text parser is quite clever and recognizes wide range of synonyms, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with getting stuck on trying to figure the right commands. “Tachyon Dreams” feels like an excursion back into the time where games like this were pinnacle of adventure gaming, and manages to convey the atmosphere and fun that gamers at that time had w…

I don't know if Tachyon Dreams was made before the other Cosmic Void games available on Steam, but it feels like a step back. In particular, there isn't really a meaningful storyline, or any motivation to try get through the game at all. You get tossed into the middle of various Space Quest style situations, but the puzzles feel more like room escapes than part of a graphic adventure because after you finish each segment the game whisks you off somewhere completely different. These games are generally pretty nonsensical, but this one really takes the cake in throwing a bunch of non sequitur puzzles at you. Puzzles for the sake of puzzles can be a funny meta commentary when they're used sparingly, but when that's the whole game it's just tedious, especially when they aren't well-hinted. It's especially frustrating that synonyms don't work - for instance there is a "lake" that quietly does nothing if you use the terms "pool" or "pond". We don't have memory constraints these days, so surely could put the whole thesaurus in there? Meanwhile on the verb side you can "look at" something and get a different result to when you "search" the same thing, without any clear hint to actually us…

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Sierra games, going all the way back to the original AGI games. And Tachyon Dreams is most definitely a love letter to that old school parser driven graphical adventure game. I'm also a sucker for time travel stories, which this game has in spades. My only gripe is the very short nature of Tachyon Dreams, but pretty much all of the Sierra AGI games were so it's not much of a complaint. That said, the story is a fun romp through time with an interesting premise. If you're a fan of the original two Space Quest games, then I definitely recommend picking up Tachyon Dreams and giving it a go.

Scratches that little Sierra itch if you want to have a throwback for a little while

If you like the old parser AGI Sierra On-Line games (Space Quest 1,2, King's Quest 1,2) you'll like this. It is far less obtuse and usually hints at what you need to do. The story is more of a stream of consciousness, but that's what you get with Cosmic Void games. Short and sweet too.

This is an absolutely gorgeous, EGA, text parser game that honors the Sierra games that came before it in a way that stays true to the story it telling. I really appreciated this games ability to maintain its own voice throughout- it doesn't lean on constant references or cheap callbacks, rather it knows the tale it wants to tell and it delivers it assuredly. And it's just, man, it's so fun to look at. I've never seen EGA blended and contrasted like this, the world feels alive and welcoming of your exploration. The story tells a complete story with a lovely if not unexpectedly deeper arc at the end that I especially appreciated. I highly recommend this game, I had an absolute blast all the way through!