Ghost Voyage

This is a very short game and so this shall be a very short review.

Ghost Voyage is the story of a girl named Bette, the lion who just won’t seem to get out of her house, and the hunter Goncourt whom she hires to get rid of it. The interplay of these three characters and the development of their relationships form the basis of the game’s (seven minute) story arc.

Level Design 2/5:

Ghost Voyage is a traditional point and click adventure game, you move your character about the screen with a click of your left mouse button. Right-clicking will allow you to interact with objects, and you also have an inventory to carry around the various useful items you are likely to accumulate. These are very standard adventure game mechanics, but Ghost Voyage stands a bit apart from most others for two reasons.

The first reason is the graphics. The entire game is done entirely in hand-drawn panels done in a very whimsical, child-like style that might resemble a 5 year old scribbling, all done with a very minimalist use of color. The style, while very simple, is charming in its own way and gives the game a sort of unique flair that would be missing with more traditional graphics and color schemes. Whether this was intentional or simply due to laziness on the part of the creator is beyond the scope of this review!



Aside from this, there is not much to say in the gameplay department. While competent, it is nothing outstanding, and the game does not attempt to try anything new or different with the mechanics. Clever and fun manipulation of your environment or the mechanics that made Catmitts other games like “Twenties Flappers vs the Mummy” fun and clever are not found here. There is very little in the way of problem solving or puzzle elements, instead it is simply a matter of “obvious need for item x here, retrieve item x, use item x, congratulations.” Given the short timeframe for Game Chill games, I suppose it is to be expected. However, I can’t help but feel more could have been done here.

Characters and Story 3/5:
The other factor that sets this game apart is the writing. While nothing fantastic or amazing, the dialogue is very clever, witty, often humorous, and generally of a high enough quality that you’ll be interested in examining every single object in the entire game. As per Game Chill’s theme, you will eventually play as both Bette and Goncourt, who represent two different sides in the conflict over the Lion, who is himself anything but what he seems, and the often absurd situations the three find themselves in form the basis of the game’s comedy. The humor is very light fare, however. Fans of Catmitts’ darker games may be disappointed here.

Music and Sound 3/5:

There is a single music track that plays for the entire game. It is entirely appropriate, and that is just about all there is to say about it.

Overall 3/5:

In closing, Ghost Voyage is a competent and amusing adventure game that is worth the fifteen or so minutes to play through it. Nothing spectacular, perhaps not as impressive as some of catmitts’ other work, but certainly nothing wrong with it, and capable of standing on its own as a short five minute diversion.