Sphonx unearthed for download on itch.io

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Announcements by Jack Allin
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Demo also available for point-and-click archeological adventure on Windows and Linux

Ancient Egypt has long fascinated historians and archeologists, but our ability to understand that once-great culture is largely limited to examining ruins and mummified remains. Just think what we could learn if we could bring someone from that time back to life. Well, wonder no more, as you'll have the chance to do just that in Toxic Tuba's newly released point-and-click adventure, Sphonx, although it won't be easy and the answers you find may be quite unlike anything you're expecting.

It's 2288 at an archeological dig site in the desert outside of Cairo, where Ignacio "Iggy" Dias, a clumsy, banana-loving university student apprentice, is helping Dr. Allan Nowicz study the well-preserved tomb of a pharaoh recently discovered deep in a crumbling pyramid. Dr. Nowicz is an "experienced scientist and archaeologist who was involved in the development of some of the most advanced technological breakthroughs." One such breakthrough is the Death Erasing Multispectral Ultrawave Mummified Material Igniter Ray Device, or DEMUMMI-Ray for short, which is able to "revive even partially conserved cells in old, very old and even ancient Egyptian tissue and give it back its previous human form." While waiting for the arrival of another leading expert in the experimental new tech, still in its beta phase, Iggy and Dr. Nowicz argue about the delay in using the device. That night, Iggy decides to sneak out and take matter into his own hands, only to find himself swept up in a "centuries-spanning adventure" he never could have imagined.

While Sphonx may be set in the future, it's very much inspired by the adventure genre's 1990s golden era. It's a traditional two-button, third-person point-and-click pixel art game filled with inventory items to collect, puzzles to solve, and fully voiced conversations with other characters – at least one of whom is many, many years old. It's not intended to be a long game but it's budget-priced accordingly, with a projected playtime that should last "one to two lunch breaks... for the price of a good coffee."

The full version of Sphonx is available now on itch.io for Windows and Linux, with a low minimum purchase price and a pay-what-you-want option above and beyond that. For those who'd like to try before they buy, a demo can be downloaded free of charge, in which you'll guide Iggy in plotting his escape from Dr. Nowicz in order to carry out his plan.