Demo lifts off from Owl Observatory

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Surreal time-looping horror comedy adventure is a commercial prequel to the freeware game Dinner with an Owl

Sometimes it seems like time stands still, but it really will stand still – possibly forever – if you're not able to uncover the secrets of an enigmatic bird man in BoringSuburbanDad's upcoming Owl Observatory, a commercial prequel to the surreal 2021 point-and-click freeware adventure, Dinner with an Owl. 

As you probably expect, the anthropomorphic owl in question is one and the same, though he goes by many names. Here he is Virgil Brooks, a posh gentleman with a taste for culinary delights who lives in a mansion with his terrified but reluctantly subservient butler Declan and a curious lawyer named George. Brooks is obsessed with being freed from the shackles of time and believes he's invented a way to do just that. To show off his discovery, he's invited three of the greatest scientists in the world to his home: royal Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, renowned equally for his work and his golden nose prosthetic; fellow astronomer and mathematician Joane Kepler, who devised groundbreaking laws of planetary motion; and Williamina Wollaston, a physicist belonging to the Royal Society. When Brooks announces his stunning revelation that the stars have already stood still and that time itself will likewise soon do the same, it's up to players to assume the role of Tycho to investigate what he's up to and hopefully put and end to his plans before it's too late.  

Described as a "horror comedy point-and-click adventure with a delicious twist," the fully voiced Owl Observatory is traditional in its mechanics and hand-drawn art style but has a few distinctive elements that make it stand apart from the norm. Yes, you'll navigate the "sinister" mansion of Virgil Brooks using a simple two-button mouse interface, converse with your host and fellow guests, seek clues, and collect items to stash them in your inventory for solving puzzles. (An optional hotspot highlighter will help make sure you haven't overlooked anything important.) However, you'll soon steal a spiritual cloning machine that also allows you to replicate and control duplicate versions of yourself so long as they remain unseen. You'll also get to travel through time and "hypnotize vulnerable minds" as you progress through a "twisted, looping storyline" filled with surprises. 

There is no target release date just yet, but Owl Observatory is due to launch sometime this year. In the meantime, you can sink your claws into the playable demo now on Steam for Windows PC, and check out the earlier freeware game if you haven't yet tried it out.