The Protagonish to take center stage on PC this summer

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Narrative-driven cartoon fantasy adventure uses choices of secondary characters to influence the hero indirectly

Do we really have "free will" or are our choices essentially just inevitable byproducts of our circumstances? Adventure game heroes generally have only the barest illusion of free will, their actions of course really dictated by the unseen hand controlling them. In College Fun Games' brilliantly named The Protagonish, the question of free will is turned completely on its head, putting players in the role not of the main character, but in those of the supporting cast attempting to influence him.  

When the brave knight "Sandford of Sandwich the second, son of Sir Sourdough, heir to the seaside seat of Scone" finds himself in a small medieval village, it's only natural to assume that you, as the player, will be making choices on his behalf. But you don't. Instead, you'll jump between four different side characters in an attempt to impact his decisions indirectly through your own dialogue choices, whether as "a shopkeeper out for the best deal, a monk who's taken a vow of silence, or a miner who's had a bump on the head and not quite saying what he means." Then there's the "mysterious beastie" about which little is known. Whatever your character, it's up to you whether to choose to help or hinder, "guide or distract" the knight on his apparently epic quest, without ever controlling him first-hand.

Presented in a bright, colourful hand-drawn art style, at first glance The Protagonish looks like a cozy, traditional point-and-click adventure. At first listen, too, as the game comes fully voiced with actors from Edinburgh stand-up and stage, and a score performed using real Celtic instruments. However, that's where the similarities end, as there's no direct exploring to do here, or inventory to collect and use, just a series of "humorous dialogue" choices to select from. The developers describe it as "a bit like a interactive fiction game, but with puzzles that challenge how you use those options." A single playthrough is expected to be as short as 15 minutes, but it's meant to be replayable, with multiple endings determining not only how the hero's quest ends, but the "consequences for each character" as well. 

While no firm release date has been announced yet, the developers are hoping to finish The Protagonish by September, launching on Steam and itch.io for Windows, Mac and Linux, possibly followed by a Switch port later on.