Gamescom 2025 in words: Adventure game round-up part 1

• Previews by Laura Cress
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This year was my third visit to gamescom for Adventure Game Hotspot (and fourth overall). Every wizened old grump must eventually pass the torch on to a fresher, more wide-eyed upstart, and so it was that this year I had the great pleasure to be accompanied in my coverage of the world’s biggest video game expo in Cologne, Germany with another Hotspot writer (and actual friend of mine), Vicky Sykes. 

And I was mighty glad I did, as this year we once again had a huge onslaught of appointments booked to see some of the best upcoming adventure (and adventure-adjacent) games in the industry.

From getting pitched by Tim Schafer himself about Double Fine’s upcoming puzzle adventure Keeper, to being in the audience to watch Geoff Keighley reveal the trailer for Ron Gilbert’s new pixel art RPG Death By Scrolling at Opening Night Live, this adventure game fan was left feeling pretty lucky to be living in an age where so many of our beloved icons are back making video games again – but also a time when games such as No Stone Unturned and The Séance of Blake Manor are offering clever and modern twists on the genre as well.

Before getting into some of the games we saw on display, to prove Vicky wasn’t completely decimated by the exhausting week, here’s her initial thoughts on her very first gamescom. 

Vicky here! I don’t think I really expected what I experienced when I walked through the huge doors of the Koelnmesse for my first time at gamescom. My experienced co-pilot and friend Laura had laid the groundwork – it’s really busy, Vicky! – but I wasn’t truly prepared. Because busy it was! Luckily, despite the crowds and my uncanny ability to get lost, I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful developers and teams who were extremely generous with their time, play some exciting new adventure game demos and have some frozen yoghurt. It’s shaping up to be a bountiful harvest for adventure game fans, and we’ve picked some great upcoming games you’ll want to keep your eye on. 

Keeper 

Developer: Double Fine Productions
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: October 17, 2025
by Laura

Our hands-off demonstration of Keeper was given by none other than LucasArts legend and CEO of Double Fine Productions, Tim Schafer, who was back at gamescom after 16 years away. However, this surreal third-person puzzle adventure isn’t being directly made by the Full Throttle and Grim Fandango creator, but rather by Double Fine’s art director Lee Petty, who also led the head-popping action-adventure Headlander and the wonderfully unique nesting doll adventure Stacking.

We were shown three different video scenes from Keeper, which sees you play an abandoned lighthouse awakened by mysterious forces long after mankind has disappeared. You’re joined by a friendly seabird on a quest to the top of a distant mountain peak, all while an environmental menace with withering tendrils threatens to envelop the land. Fans of Psychonauts’ brightly coloured art style will feel at home here, as you guide the lighthouse (it has legs!) over the familiar-looking and yet slightly alien-feeling island and up the mountain. 

Your feathered companion isn’t just a friendly beak in these odd times, but can also help with the game’s light puzzles. For example, you can send the bird to land on specific objects to interact with them. Meanwhile, the lighthouse can shine its light on certain flora and fauna to change them.

Keeper will be a wordless adventure, but Tim says that doesn’t mean there won’t be a connection between the lighthouse and the bird, and the environments themselves feel alive with possibilities. In one scene, a huge many-legged beast glides grandly above you as your lighthouse scuttles through landscapes of bright pink candy-floss-like matter. The studio’s eccentric style will also be evident in the puzzles themselves, such as a time-travel puzzle we were shown where the lighthouse is able to rewind time briefly, in the process changing our seabird friend back to an egg.

Tim describes Keeper as a game that would “never get signed by a publisher,” and its focus on a dialogue-less companionship between a living lighthouse and a bird certainly feels like a left-field choice even for a developer known for making left-field choices. Of course, if any team can take the weird and wonderful and also make it emotionally charged and thought-provoking, it’s Double Fine, so get ready to become invested in 2025’s most unusual friendship when it lands this October.

Call of the Elder Gods

Developer: Out of the Blue
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2
Release Date: 2026
by Laura

This first-person Lovecraftian-themed sequel to 2020’s critically acclaimed Call of the Sea will feature two new playable characters (although one, Harry, you’ll recognise if you played the first game) and plenty more object and observation-based puzzles to boot.

The original protagonist Norah (once again performed by the fantastic Cissy Jones) also returns…in a way, narrating her husband Harry’s adventures thirty years on from her own in the last game. It’s the 1960s now, and Professor Harry Everhart at Miskatonic University (so far so Lovecraft) is still haunted by disturbing visions from his expeditions trying to cure his wife’s illness. He’s joined by student Evangeline Drayton, who has her own weird dreams about an artifact in Harry’s possession that she wants to find the answers to. Drawn close by their strange visions, they’ll team up to try to unravel the mystery together.

Call of the Elder Gods is set to be slightly longer than its predecessor at about 7-9 hours, and will take in a number of different locations around the globe and beyond, from the firelit libraries of Harry’s New England mansion to more otherworldly locations as their search gets ever weirder. 

Whilst the demo I played featured the characters apart, I’m told the two will eventually join up and you can swap between them freely to solve more puzzles, with each having slightly different abilities needed for more complex, multi-part problems. The developers are also including a new investigator mode, which will hide your note-taking journal if you wish a harder puzzle difficulty.

In my playthrough, Harry recounted a happier time when he created a scavenger hunt for his wife, which I then had to solve, though darker thoughts were already starting to creep into Harry’s mind as I progressed. However, as in the first game, the team say that despite the Lovecraftian leanings, they want things to feel less like a horror game and more like an adventure with mystery.

For those who have played the previous game, you’ll be able to indicate you’ve done so, which will offer some new choices this time around depending on what you did previously. If you didn’t play the first one, though, you’ll still be able to grasp what’s going on, meaning you can save your focus for the no doubt fiendish and fantastical puzzles on display.

Simon the Sorcerer: Origins

Developer: Smallthing Studios
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch
Release Date: October 28, 2025
by Laura

In this prequel to the original game in the popular fantasy series, we’ll see what young Simon was up to before his infamous 1993 adventure, as he’s drawn into a magical world through a portal. (Sound familiar?)

Origins has a hi-res, hand-painted look, but Chris Barrie is back to voice the sarcastic Simon, with his German counterpart also returning for those Germans who still love their point-and-clicks. (So basically, all of Germany.) 

The menu offers up two control styles, letting you move Simon about (as a kind of cut-out against a 2D background) or moving the cursor around the scene instead, as in a traditional point-and-click adventure game. There are no verbs needed anymore, as instead the cursor will change from an eye to a hand if an item can be picked up rather than just examined.

For the first new Simon adventure in 15 years, we’re promised 12 chapters of wise-cracking fun, and if the beginning half-hour of the game is anything to go by, Smallthing Studios have managed to hit the nail on the wizard’s hat in terms of recreating the silly British humour of the original, without the offensiveness of yesteryear. 

The Séance of Blake Manor

Developer: Spooky Doorway
Platform: PC
Release Date: To be announced
by Laura

The developers of The Darkside Detective are back with another supernatural mystery, but this one is no laughing matter. A first-person murder mystery set in 1897 Ireland, The Séance of Blake Manor sees you play an Irish Poirot type named Declan Ward, investigating the disappearance of a woman at the titular remote hotel. There are 24 suspects to rule out, which you do by speaking to everyone, uncovering clues, and gathering facts (up to ten) about the culprit that prove who it must be. 

To keep the pressure on, every action you take, whether as simple as pressing the hotel bell or talking to the guests, takes up a certain amount of time. You’ve only got 48 hours before a group of mystics gather to perform the titular séance, and you’re called upon to make your accusation before they begin. (The team say you’ll get three guesses, giving at least a bit of a leeway if you drop the ball and get it wrong.)

But the game isn’t just about figuring out whodunit. Spooky Doorway promise a complex web of secrets and mysteries to uncover about the hotel and its guests alongside the main quest, with different rooms opening up at different hours, environmental puzzles to solve, and even the potential for our main man Detective Ward to die if you make the wrong move.

The slick cel-shaded-like art style recalls pulpy horror comics of the past, and whilst only partially rather than fully voiced, the deep tones of our inspector as he recounts his initial journey in the dead of night towards the remote manor sets the unsettling tone for our encounters to come. 

What was most surprising to me in our meeting was learning that one full playthrough will take between 15-20 hours to complete. It’s clear that Blake Manor will be full to the brim with secrets, and as someone who has recently put more than 70 hours into searching through one of publisher Raw Fury’s other mystical houses from top to bottom, I can’t wait to give it a go in a much more ominous, Irish setting. 

Escape Simulator 2

Developer: Pine Studio
Platform: PC (Steam Deck support)
Release Date: October 21, 2025
by Vicky

Fans of getting locked in intricately designed puzzle rooms with their friends don’t have long to wait for the sequel to 2021’s popular Escape Simulator (and its numerous DLC expansions). I spoke with Boris Barbir, one of the co-founders of Croatian-based Pine Studio to see what players can expect in the sequel.

Solo escapes will still be possible, but Escape Simulator 2 now boasts private lobbies for up to eight players (with built-in voice and text chat), which sounds like chaotically good fun. Twelve rooms will be available at launch with more rooms to come, so get ready to explore Dracula’s castle, reveal the mystery of an abandoned spaceship, and try to avoid becoming cursed on a pirate island.

Players can pop in and out at any time, and Boris explained that there will be new tools available to tackle these rooms. With lots of new character customisations possible, collectible tokens galore, and new puzzle mechanics introduced, the team are confident that fans of the first game will be impressed with the additions, whilst first-time players can jump straight in without any prior familiarity.  

Perhaps just as importantly, Escape Simulator’s extremely popular Room Editor is back with a 2.0 version. This allows imaginative players to create and upload their own rooms to the Steam Workshop with a wealth of new assets and ideas. And as it turns out, a couple of people who designed incredible rooms for the first game have now joined Pine Studio to continue putting players through their paces.

Personally, I can’t wait to feel those neurons firing when this title launches in October.

No Stone Unturned

Developer: Wise Monkey Entertainment 
Platforms: PC (with consoles to follow)
Release Date: Q1 2026
by Vicky

The debut game from UK developer Wise Monkey Entertainment comes fresh off the back of a successful comic book Kickstarter for No Stone Unturned: The Peculiar Case of the Missing Acorn. Sitting down with the series creator, murder mystery enthusiast Gareth Owens, I was seeking answers to the age-old quandary of the game’s premise: ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’

Tragically, we join the story after the chicken has shuffled off this mortal coil and it is up to hard-boiled but bumbling anthropomorphic squirrel Detective Cox to find the murderer. Solving an additional five more Aesop’s Fables-esque cases along the way will help our hero uncover the final truth.

No Stone Unturned is comedic in nature, despite the deadly theme. Collecting clues and interrogating other townsfolk is the order of the day for Detective Cox, as well as analysing crime scenes, which allows players to enjoy the detailed pixel art up close through their magnifying glass.

Unlike more conventional adventures, in addition to some old-fashioned investigating, this one promises mini-games for days. ‘Drawing a conclusion’ to a mystery involves literally that: drawing on the screen to complete the picture of what might have happened. Some mini-games are inspired by popular titles, such as a staring contest with rhythm-based reactions à la Dance Dance Revolution, and a Stardew Valley-influenced bundle system to help repair the town.

Building up to the release of the game early next year, Gareth told me that he will be creating a web series in collaboration with none other than the Jim Henson Company to bring the character of Detective Cox to life, with a humorous The Office-style sitcom look at behind-the-scenes development of the game that will be available on YouTube.

With some incredible voice talent joining the game (David Suchet!) and the promise of 20+ hours of gameplay, this looks to be one stone that cosy game fans will want to turn over. Gareth said that his goal is to make more games than Agatha Christie wrote books, so here’s hoping No Stone Unturned leads to many more mysteries to come.

A Storied Life: Tabitha

Developer: Lab42 Games
Platform: PC
Release Date: Early 2026
by Vicky

Sorting through a deceased family member’s house may not sound like a good time, but A Storied Life: Tabitha hits all the right emotional notes and allows for some introspection to go with its wholesome gameplay. Although on the surface it may be reminiscent of Unpacking, this game shines more of a light on the player. While you’re going through the possessions from someone else’s life, the narrative focus here is more about what you personally deem to be important.

Sitting down with the UK team at Lab42 Games, I got to play the first three rooms and found myself moved by the seemingly trivial but sentimental items that needed to be cleared. Now here’s the kicker for all of us hoarders out there: we can’t keep it all. With limited box space available, there was some careful inventory management needed as I tried to fit in as much as I could via a grid-based packing puzzle. Some items also need protecting in bubble wrap or they will break, and others are too heavy for the box, requiring reinforcement with tape when necessary. Everything you don’t pack must be thrown away, or you can choose an item to sell at an online marketplace.

After each room of the house is cleared, every item you have interacted with unlocks key words used to fill in a memoir, which will uncover more about the house’s former occupant. There are fifteen rooms in total leading to multiple endings, and with some hidden surprises and silly moments, there’s replayability here too. So if you’re a packrat or a fan of heartfelt casual games, you can get started wrapping and finding out what the items left behind say about you early next year.

Undergrounded

Developer: Game Studio Inc.
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2026
by Vicky

What could be worse than your partner saying no to your very public marriage proposal? Japanese developer Game Studio Inc. will tell us: accidentally dropping the rejected ring down the nearest drain immediately after.

Undergrounded puts players squarely in the shoes of Scott, who, after experiencing a double whammy of disappointment, dutifully starts descending the many small, self-contained levels underground to recoup at least one of his losses. But here’s where things get a unique twist, as you’ll have to puzzle your way through various periods of American history as you delve deeper beneath the city streets.

The isometric look is very detailed, even in the tiniest sprites, and there will be five stages of historical interest for Scott to navigate, including the Space Race and the Golden Age of Cinema, all the way back to the Old West. Along the way, Scott will meet lots of other characters who are also seeking something they’ve lost.  

With an easy-going comedic tone and simple navigation, the demo had me entering a subway station (after purchasing a ticket) and going down floor by floor by solving straightforward locked door and item combination puzzles as I went. The team told me to expect boss battles later on, but never fear, as Scott will acquire a chirpy canary companion to help him out. Another interesting addition will be fully playable retro arcade mini-game cabinets appearing throughout, which unlock special features to benefit Scott in his time-travelling story.

It’s an intriguing proposal, and you’ll have the chance to say ‘Yes’ to Undergrounded when the full version of the game launches sometime next year.

Sky of Tides

Developer: Lofty Sky Entertainment
Platforms: PC and consoles
Release Date: 2025
by Vicky

As I sat down to play Sky of Tides with a member of the Lofty Sky Entertainment team, I found myself curious about what kind of game it would be. All signs pointed to a classic RPG from my research beforehand: the isometric visual perspective, the character development, and the rich narrative being promised.

Turns out it’s much more than that. The protagonist is Rin D’Lorah, a young woman from Yantar, one of nine planetoids that splintered apart and now float in the Sky of Tides. The nine planets are called numen9 and are ruled by the Syndicate, an authoritarian government heavily controlling its citizens and technology.

Against this backdrop, Rin’s father has gone missing, along with some important research he had been conducting. After receiving a message from him via her humorous robot companion Reef, Rin is instructed to travel to one of the planetoids, Rhodon, to start a new life. Rhodon is home to a rebel organisation seeking to restore the ‘old ways.’ It’s safe to say that Rin’s father jumped ship and joined the rebels, and now Rin must find out why.

The primary focus here appears to be on the importance of balance – the balance of Rin’s character, the balance of a fractured planetary system, and the balance between government systems and individuality. Unlike a traditional RPG, in which you frequently engage in combat and can craft and hone a character to play to particular strengths, this game rewards players who level up Rin in a well-rounded way by unlocking specific dialogue paths that lead to more favourable outcomes. You can choose to play chaotically, but remember this: choices matter.

Sky of Tides has a similar look to Disco Elysium, but with smooth and polished character sprites and backgrounds and featuring full voice acting from the outset. With many characters to meet and nine episodic chapters to explore, this seems like it might be a fairly beefy game.

If you enjoy narrative RPGs, you can board a ship to Numen9 and try to save the world(s) when Sky of Tides launches later this year. 

Better Than Us

Developer: Little Bat Games
Platform: PC
Release: 2026
by Laura

From the makers of the BAFTA-nominated narrative adventure Vampire Therapist comes a tale of lying to and stealing from the rich to give to the poor (yourself). Set in the year 2200, Better Than Us tasks players with infiltrating a series of high-society parties, choosing what deceptions to spin to their wealthy guests through your decisions. Be careful with the network of lies you weave, though, as you’ll need to remember which ones you picked for later conversations if you want to successfully maintain your cover. Trip up three times and you’ll get kicked out of the party.  

There’ll be mini-games as well, such as lock picking to get you into certain rooms to steal better swag, as well as some stealth elements as you hide from the guests when you’re up to no good. 

All this will come with a much different presentation than its predecessor, as developer Cyrus Nemati says he’s moved away from the visual novel style of Vampire Therapist towards a more side-scrolling 2D form of gameplay, with the protagonist able to move around freely rather than locked to a fixed spot on-screen. 

At one point, with the help of a “friendly rogue AI,” we’ll end up back in the 1500s as well, giving the game an intriguing time travel twist, but for now we can only look ahead to honing our stealth skills and sweet-talking our way to riches sometime in 2026. 

Adventure-Adjacents

We saw plenty of titles at gamescom that just fell a bit outside of the traditional adventure game genre bracket, but which still showcased strong narrative or puzzle elements. So we collected and combined them in our respective adventure game reporter’s inventories here! 

Platforming / Exploration

Deer & Boy 
Developer: Lifeline Games
Platform: PC
Release Date: Early 2026
by Laura

In this charming side-scrolling puzzle-platformer, a runaway boy meets a baby deer and their lives change forever as they traverse the great outdoors together. As the deer matures, so too will its abilities and connection with the boy. For example, when grown the deer can run and leap with great agility, but as a fawn it can’t walk so we have to carry it in our rucksack, meaning the boy can’t jump to higher heights while lugging the extra weight.

Not only does the deer become stronger and more independent as it grows, later on, after a mysterious encounter with spilled ooze, it also gains supernatural abilities, like being able to clear some obstacles blocking our way with its mind.

There’s no dialogue in Deer & Boy, but there’s plenty of emotion (and cute deer sound effects), which puts me in mind of another adventure set in nature, the excellent Röki. Here’s hoping it can live up to that game’s atmosphere too, with added deer cuteness, when it arrives early next year. 

IKUMA: The Frozen Compass 
Developer: Mooneye Studios
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S 
Release Date: 2026
by Vicky

IKUMA: The Frozen Compass is an open-world 3D mystery inspired by Franklin’s lost expedition, the real-world 1845 tragedy in which two naval crews went missing after becoming icebound in the Arctic. Here Sam, a teenaged orphan from London, and his new husky friend Ellie find themselves stranded in a frozen wilderness and are forced to face harsh and uncertain conditions. 

The game can be played co-op with another player (shown as a split-screen) with one person controlling each character, or solo, which will allow you to switch between them. Sam and Ellie must work together to traverse this unforgiving landscape, searching and scavenging for supplies and warmth, all while avoiding the legendary Ijiraq of Inuit myth. 

Heavily narrative-driven (with Sam’s troubled recollections of his earlier life unlocking along the way) with light survival mechanics, this game from German developer Mooneye Studios (creator of 2019’s Lost Ember) is intended to weave a beautiful coming-of-age tale of adversity, friendship, and the haunting mystery of what may lie buried beneath the ice.

And yes, you can pet the dog.

Horror / Thriller

Routine
Developer: Lunar Software
Platforms: PC, Xbox
Release Date: 2025
by Laura

Coming later this year, the long-awaited first-person sci-fi horror designed around a 1980s vision of the future sees you play as a software engineer called to an abandoned lunar base. There you’ll use your retro-looking Cosmonaut Assistance Tool [C.A.T.] to solve environmental puzzles – but also, once you find different modules to slot into it, stun the automated security network robots that have gone rather awry. 

In the demo for Routine I explored a deserted mall on the base, running and hiding under tables from robots. Even with the ability to shoot them, you only have a couple of charges per battery you find, so gameplay will be more Alien: Isolation-style sneaking than straight out combat. The grainy graphics only add to the atmosphere in what’s promising to be a very tense experience. 

Time to Wake Up 
Developer: Eye Blink Twice
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2026
by Vicky

What if your surroundings changed each time you blinked? Time to Wake Up, the debut game from Belgian studio Eye Blink Twice, teases a 3D psychological thriller where you’re never quite sure what you’ll see when you close and reopen your eyes.

Set in a nightmarish dream about being stuck in a strange but familiar school, this surreal first-person adventure implements a player-controlled blinking mechanic that will show an alternate view of your environment when activated. Fortunately you’re not on your own to make sense of it all, as you’ll be guided through the ever-changing nightmare by a voice in your head.

Promising a dark, atmospheric exploration of childhood memories and unresolved trauma, this is one you’ll want to keep your eye on (sorry!) as it draws closer to its 2026 release.

Musicals

Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime
Developer: Bonte Avond
Platform: PC
Release Date: Q4 2025
by Vicky

From the creator of Everybody Wham Wham and Once Upon a Jester, Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is a whimsical, musical mixture of heartfelt cartoon characters and comedic storytelling with an additional ace up its sleeve: a turn-based tactical mini-game for which players will need to collect, buy and trade frogs to outwit their opponents. (Though rest assured, the game will incorporate difficulty settings if you’re not the best at using your frogs in battle!)

With some well-known special guest stars making an appearance throughout (including streamers Lilypichu and Ludwig, whose production company is publishing), and developer Bonte Avond’s incredibly charming ‘imperfect’ voice-over delivery and tip-top original songs, this is sure to be a delight when it launches later this year.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
Developer: Friday Sundae
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: 2026
by Laura

Where to start with this first-person 3D adventure, which is part House Flipper, part Dredge and part Broadway musical? 

In There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, by day you’re renovating a recently inherited dilapidated English hotel, using a talking Scottish power tool to put furniture in its right place, spray paint, and get the walls sandblasted. By night you’re uncovering the Grand Hotel’s secrets and using those tools against some of the scary spirits that inhabit it and the wider village around you. 

I spent my time in the demo fixing up a boat, before driving it off to a mysterious island waypoint. Of course, halfway there, everyone burst into a whimsical yet slightly unexpected song about ownership of the Grand and where its future might lie. (It’s a musical mystery, after all!) 

If you’re interested in a fixer upper while battling supernatural beings using DIY tools, occasionally in harmony, you’ll be able to book into The Grand in 2026. 

Final Thoughts

These are just some of the exciting adventure games waiting in the wings, full of fresh ideas and new stories to uncover. But there were plenty more where they came from in gamescom’s Indie Arena Booth, which featured over 100 different games from independent developers. So stay tuned next week, as Laura and Vicky will return with a video focusing on ten great demos they played at the booth – at least, if the zombies don’t get them first!