MONTHLY 5 - April 2025

April was a busy month. Between the Easter holidays, personal moments and a cornucopia of birthdays, the only real celebration of note the fact that I turned another year older! As did the Collection Chamber itself the month before (it's 10-year anniversary flew by unnoticed in March). So, to mark our aging selves I put my mark on a bunch of aging games from my genre of choice; the point-and-click adventure!

My personal pick of the month is a surreal and thought-provoking dive into the afterlife with Next Life (2007 Future Games) from the Czech team behind The Black Mirror and Alter Ego. With it's ancient Aztec mythology and out-there B-movie plot, The Crystal Skull (1996 SOME Interactive & Maxis, Inc) comes in at a close second.

Free D.C! (1991 Cineplay Interactive) is an early attempt to use claymation in its art style to tell a pulpy tale of a dystopian future where the world has been taken over by robot overlords America's capital has been turned into a human zoo for their amusement. It's from a team of ex-Cinemaware developers (Defenders of the Crown) so expect great graphics for its time. Private Eye: Philip Marlowe (1996 Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc) also has a unique art-style with high-contrast animations to retell the classic Raymond Chandler noir novel The Little Sister as a deceptively complex interactive movie. Lastly, there's an educational adventure for younger players called Rumpelstiltskin's Labyrinth of the Lost (1995 TerraGlyph Interactive, Inc).

Just the one update this month. Disney's Animated Storybook: Hercules has been brushed up with the addition of a scanned PDF manual and a migration from DOSBox to DOSBox-X. See the game page for more info.

And for the rest of this month's adventures, click that little "Read more »" button you can see just below this sentence. Adventure awaits...

MONTHLY 5 - March 2025

At the end of last month, I gave my predictions for the 97th Academy Awards. Out of the 23 awards, I got 17 correct, missing out on the shorts which I don't tend to watch and not going all-in on Anora. I had a strong inkling it would win the top prize but had no idea this low-budget independent movie would do as well as it did - its multi-hyphenate director/screenwriter/editor/producer has become the first person to win four awards in a single night for the same movie! And, to commemorate, I've dedicated the month of March to Movies.

If you've ever wanted to be a multi-hyphenate like Sean Baker, you can take over every aspect of moviemaking in Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair (1996 Knowledge Adventure, Inc & DreamWorks Interactive) and take over the production of a couple of fake films starring Quentin Tarantino and Jennifer Aniston. Alternatively, learn how a real movie is made with Braveheart: Interactive CD-ROM (1995 Medisoft Corporation & Twentieth Century Fox) and discover the real history behind the Best Film winner too.

Play an adventure-game version of the Charlie Sheen starring sci-fi film The Arrival (1997 Enteraktion Inc & LIVE Film and Media Works) or an awkward beat-'em-up version of The Crow: City of Angels (1996-7 Acclaim Entertainment & Bad Bird Productions). But by far, my pick of the month is based on one of the most awarded franchises in the history of the Oscars; Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo (2003 BAM! Entertainment, Frontier Developments & Aardman). Every short or feature film has been nominated, and while the newest one didn't win earlier this month, it does have three to its name.

But wait! There's more! I have some updates for you! Shadowcaster from last month has been fixed, with the CD version now working properly (I overlooked a simple issue). Classic point-and-click adventure Bureau 13 has been given some TLC, updating DOSBox, adding Gravis Ultrasound support and including a walkthrough and soundtrack. Lastly, the first ever game posted on this blog, Abuse, has been given a major overhaul. Not only has DOSBox been updated but an unofficial Windows source port is also included, along with a ton of user levels all neatly accessed via a new menu system. There's more besides, so head on over to the game page to find out more!

Grab your popcorn and head on over after the jump to dive into each game. I'm dedicating April to Adventure games - my favourite genre - which is apt considering it's my birthday month. Until then, happy gaming!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 9

We can't have a Christmas Countdown without the traditional Disney Triple. For Day 9 of this festive foretaste, we have three educational titles hailing from the vaults of Disney. Their 100th anniversary celebration may have been lacklustre (Wish was awash), but check out Atlantis: The Lost Empire - The Lost Games ( 2001 Disney Interactive), Piglet's Big Game (2003 Disney Interactive) and The Lion King: Operation Pridelands (2004 Disney Interactive) for some of that patented magic.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 6

We're halfway through our Christmas Countdown, and we return to all that is pink with Pink Panther in Hokus Pokus Pink (1998 Wanderlust Entertainment), the sequel to Passport to Peril from a few days ago. The first one was a surprisingly hilarious time, so how does this slightly spooky follow up fare? Head on after the jump to find out - and stay tuned for more festive festivities in the days to come!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - DAY 2

Day 2 of the Chamber Christmas Countdown and we're travelling around the world with fuchsia feline in Pink Panther's Passport to Peril (1996 Wanderlust Interactive, Inc). It's a surprisingly chucklesome point-and-click adventure for kids with some mean jokes and even meaner stereotypes. Enjoy!

MONTHLY 5 - JANUARY 2022

I have an eclectic bunch of games to talk about in the first Monthly 5 of 2022. There's the family-friendly collection of activities in The 3D Adventures of Sailor Moon (1997 SNaoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation) and some less-kiddy thievery in the heist adventure The Clue! (1994 NEO Software Produktions GmbH). A bunch of dragons need riding in action the role-playing fantasy Dragonriders: Chronicles of Pern (2001 Ubi Soft Entertainment) while some tripods need racing in the futuristic Killer Loop (1999 VCC Entertainment). Lastly, in memory of the recently passed Meatloaf we have the original game based on The Rocky Horror Show (1985 On-Line Entertainment & Druidcrest Ltd). Enjoy!

MONTHLY 5 - AUGUST 2021

It's the August Bank Holiday Weekend and that means music! Whether you're slumming it at Reading Festival or tripping around one of the many smaller events, the sounds of Summer is here. So, I've dedicated this month's quintet of quality games to top tunes. Accompany MTV's resident music video commentators on their trip to university in Beavis & Butt-Head Do U (1998 MTV Networks & GT Interactive), their second point-and-click adventure. Defy the devil with a magic guitar in the tough as leather 2D platformer Johnny Bazookatone (1995 Arc Developments & U.S. Gold). Destroy the overlords with a little help from Aerosmith in Revolution X (1994-1996 Midway), their classic light-gun shooter and some no-so-classic ports. Play as the frontman  of a metal band as he plays another game within a game in the third-person-shooter Virtuoso (1994 Motivetime Ltd). Finally, rock out with the Rolling Stones in their Voodoo Lounge CD-ROM (1995 Virgin Benelux) dedicated to the late Charlie Watts. Enjoy!

I also want to plug an app a good friend of mind is developing for players of Dungeons & Dragons. The Goblin's Notebook is a single-pane view of your tabletop RPG campaign notes for pre-session planning, in-session note taking and post-session recapping, all direct from a web browser! I've been using it as a DM in my recent campaign and it's become an incredibly invaluable tool. Check out The Goblin's Notebook for free by visiting this link now!

Before I forget, there are a few updates too! Last month, I forgot to tell you all that Bermuda Syndrome got a new version that works natively on Windows. It looks better too! Also, the underrated futuristic racer, Scorcher, got an update. Head on over to their game pages to find out more.

WATCH THE VIDEO

MONTHLY 5 - FEBRUARY 2021

 

February's games are here and we start with the last remaining game in the Animani-verse with Animaniacs: A Gigantic Adventure (1999 SouthPeak Interactive). This one's a platformer, so read read on to see if it lives up to Konami's 16-bit classics. If you want something a little more serious, then check out the incredibly obscure Death by Dark Shadows (1994 William R. Fisher III), a dark and spooky cinematic platformer that has you play as a black panther. Following on from last month's educational adventure comes EcoQuest II: The Lost Secrets of the Rainforest (1993 Sierra On-Line) which sees you befriending an Amazonian bat as opposed to dolphin royalty. Still, I'm sure there's still enough litter picking to keep an average ex-con out of trouble. If you're a racing fan, why not try the first NASCAR Racing (1994 Papyrus Design Group)? It pits up to 38 stock cars against each other in an early polygonal crash-fest. Then, in a blatant move to be topical, there's Vaxine (1990 The Assembly Line) which has you throwing multicoloured balls around in the psychedelic brain of patient zero. I'm glad real-life vaccines don't work that way, otherwise we'd be screwed.

On top of all this, there are a couple of updates to mention too. Alice: An Interactive Museum (1991-94 Synergy Interactive Corp) and the cancelled WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans (Blizzard Entertainment) have received new versions. Check out their pages for more details.

Watch the video round up below before checking them out yourself by following the links after the jump.

MONTHLY 5 - January 2021

New year, old games. And there's a few stonkers here. There's more zany antics in Animaniacs: Splat Ball (1999 SouthPeak Interactive), a fantastic tryst with legend in Arthur's Knight: Tales of Chivalry (1999 Cryo Interactive), a rollercoaster design tool called Coaster (1993 Disney Interactive), an ecological adventure with EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus (1991 Sierra On-Line) and some barbaric fist punches in Savage Warriors (1995 Mindscape Inc). 

 

Alas, there are no updates. Or a video - yet. A few drunken Zoom parties laid to rest any illusions of punctuality. It's half done, covering all of December too, so expect it in the coming day(s). 

 

And here it is!!

MONTHLY 5 - December 2020

Just in time for say good riddance to 2020, here are December's selection of PC games to keep you occupied. There's the mini-game collection of Animaniacs Game Pack (1997 Funnybone Interactive), some hi-octane shooting in Delta V (1993 Bethesda Softworks), a historic puzzle solving adventure in Karma: Curse of the 12 Caves (1995 Discis Entertainment), histrionic puzzle solving in Lemmings 3D + Winterland (1995 Psygnosis Ltd) and some Christmas hijinks in Nightmare in the Toy Factory (1997 Anglia Multimedia).

 

There is one update for this month too - Curse of Enchantia from Core Design. It was one of my earlier installers so I've updated to the newest version of DOSBox and made sure it is completeable. And I had to go through that annoying cliff walk multiple times just to make sure :)

Beyond testing this classic adventure, I've been spending more time with family than I usually would - it has been Christmas after all. And if any year is going to make you appreciate them more, it's 2020. As such, I've struggled to find time for the Chamber, so please be patient if you've contacted me and are still waiting for a reply - I aim to get back to you. 

 

This also means that there are no videos for this month I'm afraid, but I do aim to ring in the first few weeks of the new year with my annual Top 10 rundown extravaganza! I'll see you all soon for that, and until then have a merry New Year and Happy Gaming!

HIDDEN GEMS - TOP 10 SPOOKY GAMES FOR KIDS

 

This one took a while to compile, but it wouldn't be the Halloween without a swathe of spooky retro titles for you to game to. This time, I present my personal, completely biased Top 10 list the best 90s kids games best played in the Halloween season. I've limited myself to games that are no longer sold, so no Maniac Mansion, Hocus Pocus or MediEvil, and those specifically aimed at the younger critters infesting households the world over.

 

From the list, there are 4 titles new to the Chamber, and another 2 that have been updated. That's Are You Afraid of the Dark, an adventure game based on the classic Nickelodeon show, I.M. Meen, an excuse to learn grammar while playing a Doom clone, Jan Pienkowski's Haunted House, based on the still-impressive pop up book and Nightmare Ned, of the best Disney show no-one remembers. Check them out after the jump by following the links below, but not before you catch my video on the subject!