AdventureX 2025 in words and pictures (Part 1)

• Previews by Laura Cress
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AdventureX 2025 was a triumph. The London volunteer-run narrative gaming expo recently underwent a change in organisers (hence its year off in 2024) and venue to the more central LSBU Hub building, but I'm pleased to report that the event's great spirit and warmth are as immortal and abiding as the question “are adventure games dead?” and our staunch reply “no!”

From an endearing, heartfelt talk about beating imposter syndrome from Mr Guybrush Threepwood himself – the actor and food critic Dominic Armato – to a delightfully unhinged performance of live choose-your-own-adventure-game The Dark Room with comedian John Robertson, it felt like the first day of the expo couldn't really be beat. But sprinkle in some thought-provoking insights on how to write interesting stories from the likes of Shadows of Doubt's Stark Holborn and Resident Evil Village's Antony Johnston, and cap it all off with a laugh-out-loud panel about – what else? – comedic writing, and Sunday was every bit as impressive. (You can't really beat hearing Guybrush speak!)

It felt fitting for what has truly been a golden year for adventure games that AdventureX gave us the gold standard in what small, independent and community-led gaming expos can do, showing up much larger recent exhibitions in the process. There were over 30 game demos to try, and fit in amongst all of the socialising and talks, my partner in crime Vicky Sykes and I came away with a mix of bigger titles and some smaller ones that caught our eye below. As ever, stay tuned for my upcoming video round-up of the weekend in a week or so.

Well done, AdventureX. Long may it continue!

Ghost Haunting

Developer: Three Headed Monkey Studios
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2027

You might be fooled into thinking that Three Headed Monkey, the German developers behind this charming 2D point-and-click adventure game, have always been adventure game makers considering their name and its Monkey Island roots. However, developer Marco Grönwoldt told me at their AdventureX stall that they were first involved in making films, and that Ghost Haunting is their first ever game. I would never have guessed by the slick, entertaining demo – though it's clear why publishers Daedalic felt they had to snap up the game, if they saw something similar to what I did.

The story is based around the premise of a child figuring out what it means when someone passes away – but in much more cartoonish, fun overtones than that suggests. Seven-year-old Gigi is often sent to stay at her grandparents' old crumbling castle by her parents, and on her latest trip she discovers two things: her grandmother has died, and her grandfather is a ghost hunter. And so the plucky kid puts two and two together, and decides to use her grandfather's technology to go on a quest to the realm of the dead and bring her beloved gran back.

Whilst there's a clear love for 90s adventure classics demonstrated in the game's hand-animated pixel art, it will also have more modern, customisable elements in terms of the game's different modes – with one for less experienced adventure gamers offering up options such as a hotspot highlighter and hint system. (There's also a mode for you to cherry pick the options you want.)

You'll be joined on your adventures by an unusual sidekick in the form of talking gourd Baron Butternut (a squash animated with the soul of an evil monster your grandfather caught). Though this demo version didn't have any voice acting, I'm told the full game will be available in both English and German, so I'll be intrigued to hear just what our cheeky cucurbit sounds like. Gigi is your typical mischievous young heroine, and so far both the writing and puzzles feel clever and tightly written.

Although we’re some way off from its release, Ghost Haunting feels like it brings more to the table than just well-meant nods to the adventure games of yore, and with the developers promising about 10-12 hours of gameplay, I can't wait to see what more this impressively polished first time game studio can bring.

Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Reforged

Developer/Publisher: Revolution Software
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch
Release Date: Q2 2026

I played through the beginning few scenes of Revolution Software's enhanced version of its 1997 classic The Smoking Mirror with a similar feeling to when I saw the original Broken Sword’s “Reforged” update at gamescom a few years ago. The mind is a tricky beast, and you'll probably start up the updated game as I did – certain that the original sequel's graphics looked pretty sharp and detailed for the time. When I hit the Tab key, however, I was able to switch between those earlier graphics and the Reforged version's and it was only then I could see really how much has changed here.

Whilst its predecessor certainly did its best to create a dramatic first scene, as protagonist George Stobbart sits tied to a chair with a fire and poisonous spider encroaching, the beautiful new 4K visuals give so much more depth and detail to everything on display, from the cobwebs around a dusty cabinet to George's panicked expressions as that arachnid gets ever nearer.

Most of the first game's revampings carry over to this next instalment, including lots of customisation for hints via a “Story” mode to make the game more accessible to newcomers, though the classic “Traditional” mode still remains. As previously discussed with creator Charles Cecil on a rather dark evening outside BAFTA HQ in London, what won't be returning is the use of AI to help the game's artists animate the thousands of remade sprites. At AdventureX I was told that there will be a Lead Artist assigned to oversee everything rather than different artists for different characters, which led to some slight discrepancies in characters' styles across the last remaster.

Otherwise, it’s mainly business as usual in The Smoking Mirror – Reforged, but you can catch my brief AdventureX interview with Charles about what else might be in store from them in my upcoming video round-up.

The Incident at Galley House

Developers: William Rous, Evil Trout
Publisher: Evil Trout 
Platform: PC
Release Date: Q2 2026

The Incident at Galley House is an updated reimagining of the 2025 text-based mystery browser game Type Help (made by William Rous and available for free on itch.io). Fans of the detective puzzle game The Roottrees Are Dead will be excited to know that this version is being developed alongside William by Robin Ward, otherwise known as Evil Trout, the developer who took the free itch.io browser version of that game and updated it for Steam to great acclaim.

This game wasn't being displayed as part of AdventureX's official selection, but Robin was kind enough to show me a couple of scenes from it on the sidelines. Whilst the story – you stumble across a “seance machine” that allows you to see echoes of the past, which you use to try to discover the identities of a host of unknown bodies found at a rural English mansion – will remain essentially the same, there will be some significant differences from the original, including its UI and a graphical facelift. There will also be a brand new soundtrack, plus voice acting.

Rather than just inputting text into a computer to work out who everyone is and which scenes they were a part of, there will be more of an illustrated visual novel-style presentation this time around. This was demonstrated as Robin put codes into the machine for the first scene – they all represent different things, with each person having a unique code assigned to them that you have to crack to work out the story. With the correct codes inputted, we were treated to a fully voiced visual novel scene of what had happened in that specific place, and a transcript we could pore through after.

With extra scenes promised to expand the lore, there seems plenty to encourage fans of Type Help to revisit Galley House in its updated version – and the combination of the original's intrigue, finessed using Robin's Roottrees experience, promises another hit for fans of deduction games in general.

Vicky’s thoughts….

This was my fourth time at AdventureX, and it is always a highlight of my calendar. But this year was a little different, with Saturday spent entirely in costume (and character!) as the team at Spooky Doorway (The Darkside Detective, The Séance of Blake Manor) had very kindly said I could help as a volunteer at their stand. I had too much fun in my Victorian mourning dress, and I spoke to so many people by the end of the day that my voice had gone!

Luckily, on Sunday I was back to being Vicky and I was primed and ready with my pink notebook and pen, eager to get stuck into the plentiful offerings on show this year. I was spoiled for choice by the many exciting titles staring at me from every corner, and the games my amazing colleague Laura and I chose to highlight here piqued our interest in particular. AdventureX continues to be a wonderful and inclusive space for fans and people involved in making games alike, and I feel honoured to be a very small part of that.

Contact Protocol

Developer/Publisher: Cold Zephyr Games
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2026 (Kickstarter coming soon)

Upon approaching the booth of Contact Protocol, headed up by Mick and Peter of UK’s Cold Zephyr Games, I knew I was about to experience a ‘job simulator in space’ but I wasn’t expecting my inner office manager to come out. This game places players at the flickering security desk computer of the PALE HORSE, a Galileo Corporation ship carrying miners to Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, and our job is to allow or deny passage to incoming vessels (with the safety of my crew as paramount).

Gritty, stylish hand-drawn artwork and fluorescent console screens are the order of the day in Contact Protocol, which initially opens with the security computer (that first needs to be turned on) and a pop-up message on the console alerting me to an incoming vessel. This ship transmits that they are the HARBINGER, which I had to manually type into my console to check. The console provides their ‘squawk’ sign (a unique identifier), their owner, their hull, and their route, all of which I had to request confirmation of from the ship’s crew, who wrote it in our chat box. So far, so good – all checked out, and I was able to confirm their passage. Of course, that wasn’t my work done for the day; I also need to fill out the paperwork, send that up in the pneumatic tube and have a cup of tea, just like in real life. Oh, and get evaluated on my decision making at the end of each (timed!) encounter.

It's not all rinse and repeat, however, with an interesting cast of characters to meet and learn about in your downtime. Contact Protocol promises a story-rich experience full of twists and turns, and an integral choice mechanic with real consequences. (This led me to press the big red torpedo button in the demo, as one of the later incoming vessels seemed like a threat!) The developers told me that as the game progresses, there will be more to check, fix, and agonise over, mirroring other investigative games’ complexity spikes, and with their interest in ethical dilemmas in games, Contact Protocol will surely have even the steeliest player taking a pause before pressing "send" and allowing passage.

The Tragedy at Deer Creek

Developer/Publisher: Sparrowland
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2026

Sparrowland’s debut The Tragedy at Deer Creek immediately caught my eye as a lover of darker-themed narrative games, as it looked to be right up my alley. Under the watchful eyes of Swedish co-founder brothers Mikael and Andreas who were at the helm, I took my first step into the Alaskan wilderness to uncover their tale.

It’s 1997, and I assumed the character of Charlotte, a photographer whose passion is ghost towns and forgotten areas of historical heritage. Her latest journey takes her to the abandoned logging camp of Deer Creek to gather photographs and information for her new project. Upon her arrival, however, Charlotte is shocked to see the outpost looks almost ‘frozen in time’ and sets about documenting and capturing the location on film using different camera formats. Along the way, it becomes clear that Deer Creek is not just a deserted camp, but the last known location of the people that inhabited and then abruptly, inexplicably abandoned it.

The Tragedy at Deer Creek teases a haunting story of family, loss and love, and the demo had a heavy serving of mystery with just a sprinkle of possible supernatural mixed in. A first-person slideshow game, I liked that it wasn’t typical point and click fare. I couldn’t pick up everything I found interesting (Charlotte reminded me that it wasn’t hers to take and she didn’t want to disturb the past), and there was a very straightforward objective-driven path (with reminders in my journal) to follow that felt realistic, alongside a simple click-to-combine inventory screen.

The demo alone really packed in the atmosphere: the melancholy banjo and violin soundtrack, the muted and dreary colour scheme and the sound of the arctic wind whistling made me feel shivery. I had to ask Andreas about the art style, as it reminded me of the rotoscoping technique used in The Last Express. He told me it isn’t rotoscoped but rather a combination of blender models that are hand-painted, resulting in a very polished and striking 2D pixel look.

I came away wanting to continue snapping photographs, felling trees, and learning more, but I might need to wrap up warmer when this chilling narrative releases next year.

In Their Shoes

Developer/Publisher: We Are Muesli
Platform: PC
Release Date: Q1 2026

In Their Shoes is a ‘mumblecore’ narrative adventure, detailing the lives of seven different characters wearing seven different pairs of shoes, designed to showcase an intimate slice-of-life look at everyday people in modern-day Milan.

Do the math and that gives the player 49 playable moments, each lasting around 5-10 minutes, which unlocks more information about the characters and what it might be like to be ‘in their shoes.’ I sat down to play just such a moment with one of the co-founders of Italian studio We Are Muesli, Matteo, and found myself in the sandals of Nico. Nico was at a bar alone but making conversation with a barmaid. Nico seemed burdened by something, which felt ominous, and I had the choice of what drink to order, whether to drink more, and excitingly, whether to accept the barmaid’s romantic interest in Nico as the short moment unfolded. These short snippets felt impactful, grabbed my attention and I wanted to know more.

A black ‘scribble’ appears on-screen at certain points, which allows the player to delve deeper into a character’s thoughts. In the demo, I had access to these twice, but Matteo explained that as you get to know a character more, more thoughts will be available. Choices matter here, as you might imagine, with a graphic indicating a ‘story shift’ depending on your choice.

I was instantly attracted to this game by the bright and inviting graphical style on the start screen, and I wasn’t disappointed. This style, I learned, is called non-naturalistic, which is why the vibrant colour palette really stands out, with characters depicted in shades of primary colours with a 2D cartoon aesthetic. The game plays like a visual novel, with dialogue appearing on the right of the screen in speech bubbles, with a lovely watercolour-esque looping animation on the left and subtle sound effects in the background to add to the immersion.

Promising an inclusive range of characters in the full release, and a diverse collection of moments firmly rooted in contemporary life, In Their Shoes looks to be a heartfelt and poignant exploration of the many intricate highs and lows of ordinary people shaping their own paths.

Honourable Mention

Chance’s Lucky Escape / Waffles’ Cranked Stories

Developers: Goloso Games, Julia Minamata
Publisher: Goloso Games
Release Date: Out now for Playdate, coming 2027 to PC

Last but not least, we wanted to mention Chance’s Lucky Escape, by Goloso Games (Inspector Waffles) and Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond), about the world’s luckiest dog having a very UNlucky day. Whilst this came out exclusively on the Playdate handheld device earlier this year, Goloso Games will be porting and re-releasing it alongside another Playdate game (the non-adventure Spike II: The Great Emu War), plus an as-yet-unannounced third fetch-quest-style title featuring Waffles on Steam for PC as a bundle called Waffles’ Cranked Stories at some point in 2027. Replacing the physical crank on the Playdate console, there’ll be an on-screen “crank” option to select when playing on PC. The games will all keep the Playdate’s 1-bit black-and-white retro graphics and entertaining gameplay, though!