The tale of Estória begins on Windows, Mac and iOS devices

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Indie point-and-click coming-of-age adventure available for download on Steam, itch.io, Game Jolt and the App Store

As kids we surely all couldn't wait to grow up, to be part of the larger world than our restricted experience afforded us at home. That motivation is realized in a very tangible way for the young protagonist of Estória, a charming point-and-click adventure by solo developer Jonathan Jahnke.

Luna is the daughter of a "humble lighthouse keeper on the small island of Pilot Town, part of a far-flung, isolated chain of islands in a remote corner of the Greater Kingdom of Estória." From her scenic cliffside home she can see the Isle of Estória across the sea, the "regional capital of this forgotten part of the Outer Kingdom." The entire realm is ruled over by the revered King Ren and Queen Lorna, but for reasons the populace can only speculate about, the monarchs have "not been seen in the Outer Kingdom in over fifteen years," leaving the island controlled by the power-hungry Governor Kreel. Even more ominously, Kreel has taken their daughter, Princess Marcella, as his ward and plans to marry her immediately after her impending Coming of Age ceremony. 

Playing as Luna, at first "none of this is your concern." You too will partake in the Coming of Age ceremony soon, after which you can finally visit the island for yourself. In the meantime, your Poppa forbids it, warning you of how dirty and dangerous a place it is, so you must content yourself with helping maintain the lighthouse and perform daily chores. That all changes one night when a nasty thunderstorm washes an old man ashore, who implores Luna to take his amulet, find the princess and save the kingdom. And so Luna must grow up earlier than expected, embarking a journey to the capital a little sooner than she'd planned, where she's swept up in a much grander adventure than she ever anticipated.

Inspired by the genre classics of Sierra and LucasArts, Estória is a traditional point-and-click adventure, promising a "kingdom full of history, a palace full of puzzles [and] an island full of mystery." The 2.5D artwork is charming, though not entirely hand-drawn, as the developer has used some generative AI to flesh out the game's vivid, painterly cartoony art style. As you move from the forest and small harbour town where play begins to the docks and busy marketplace of the Eastern-flavored capital city, you'll find plenty of characters to talk to, items to collect and combine, and puzzles to solve. Many involve correctly utilizing your inventory, while others are of the logical brain-teaser variety. There's even a goat puzzle! (Though surely not the one you're thinking of.)

The story is fairly linear and the puzzles start out fairly easy, but the available locations will expand and the difficulty increase as you progress. However, according to the developer, the game was designed to be "playable by all ages and experience levels" so it won't be a long adventure for veteran gamers. Genre newcomers and younger players, on the other hand, may benefit from the game's extensive built-in layered hint system. Thorough explorers will want to keep an eye out for ten hidden bonuses along the way, including one in particular that "adds a lot of backstory and character motivations," though none are required to reach the end. 

Launched earlier this year on itch.io and Game Jolt, followed by an iOS version on the App Store, Estória is now available on Steam for Windows and Mac as well.