Indie Spotlight – The Abandoned Planet lets you explore the unknown in a point-and-click pixel odyssey

The Abandoned Planet brings to us players an old-school adventure game that ticks all the boxes necessary for an immersive title. Released recently across Android and iOS, the game’s visuals are enough alone to immserse you into a narrative puzzle experience. While I have plenty of thoughts to share, let’s also hear directly from the developers about the game’s compelling storytelling and richly atmospheric world.

Overview: Explore the land of the lost

The Abandoned Planet takes you on a mysterious journey when a wormhole strands an astronaut on an unknown world. With no signs of life and a spacecraft in ruins, the protagonist must unravel the secrets and solve puzzles to uncover the truth of this desolate planet to find her way back home.

This pixel-art, first-person, point-and-click adventure combines the intrigue of classic games like Myst and Riven with the charm of LucasArt’s adventure games from the 90s. The 2D art style evokes that old feeling but the fresh touch from the artists makes it even more worthwhile.

Featuring hundreds of locations, detailed visuals, and immersive puzzles, this game offers a nostalgic experience with new elements brought to life for adventure game enthusiasts. Act 1 is free to play, making it the perfect entry point if you want to test the waters.

Why you should play The Abandoned Planet

• You get to experience stunning pixel-art visuals and atmospheric exploration in an alien world.
• There are hundreds of unique locations to discover and interact with.
• A chance to relive the classic point-and-click adventure style with a fresh twist.
• Fully voiced dialogues enhance the immersive storytelling, putting life into the characters.
• Text of the game comes with 10+ localized languages.

Developer Insights: The story of inspiration and challenges

Solo developer Jeremy Fryc who owns Dexter Team Games discussed with us on the new launch and shared some insights behind the inpsiration, personal vision, the challenges faced during the development, and future plans.

Please note that this interview has been edited for clarity.

Inspiration behind the title, the challenges of a solo dev

I was curious when read the game’s description, so I asked Jeremy on what inspired him to merge classic adventure elements from games like Myst and Riven with the humor of 90s LucasArts titles. Jeremy explained that games like Myst and Riven are among the most influential of all time, and as someone who loves adventure games, it’s impossible to avoid their influence.

He mentioned that he was listening to an interview with the creator of Myst, who said that when the first game was released, most players didn’t make it off the first island because it was so difficult, especially since there were no online walk-throughs at the time. In contrast, Fryc noted that most players were able to complete LucasArts games or at least progress further.

He added: “Since story is so important to me, I want people to play and finish my games so that they get to see the events of the story unfold. So, there’s this fusion of Myst-like gameplay, which is very immersive, and this slightly more casual take on puzzles, like in the LucasArts games.”

Jeremy in short gives us an overview of the challenges he faced and how he took care of it. Fryc acknowledged that balancing his passion for game development with his full-time job and family life was his biggest challenge. He explained: “I have another full time job and a family (wife and two kids). It’s a challenge because I love game development and I also love spending time with my family. Family is first though, so making sure to hit specific milestones and making my family a priority is a challenge. I don’t think I can say specifically how I overcame it. You simply push through.” 

The idea of an expansive world

The stunning visuals of the game showcase the immense effort poured into crafting a spectacular treat for the eyes, leaving me curious about the behind-the-scenes magic that brought it to life. Answering my question, Jeremy shared his approach to designing the expansive world of The Abandoned Planet as a solo developer.

“First, I wrote the story,” Fryc mentions. “This makes design much easier. If I know how it ends then I’ll know how I want to get there. Then, I sketched out tiny boxes in my notebook; literally the loosest concept of what to expect in each location.” This helped him determine how much unique artwork would be needed for each area. He then created detailed HD versions of those sketches, making adjustments along the way to ensure everything linked together properly.

“During this sketching stage I mentally plan out most of the puzzles”, he continues. “I then put those sketches into the Unity and tried to get a feel for what it was like to navigate around that location. This allowed me to make any changes. After that, I worked on the final artwork, Act by Act.”

He would finish the artwork for one Act and do a first pass of all the puzzles before moving on to the next Act’s artwork, repeating this process until the game was complete. This way, Jeremy was constantly getting a feel for what the completed game could be.

Fulfilling personal visions and future expectations

“Most game designers are always trying to get an idea of what their next project will be.” Jeremy has mapped everything and mentions The Abandoned Planet is the second game in a 5-game story-arc. He said he knows what all 5 games will be, what genre they will be, and he knows what the overarching story will be. “It’s a connected universe with characters from one game popping up in another game.”

Speaking on his vision, he aims to create this amazing story that resonates with players and makes them go “WHAT!? I can’t believe it!”. He further adds: “That’s a bit how the Abandoned Planet ends, especially if you’ve played the first game, Dexter Stardust: Adventures in Outer Space. I’m slowly making progress towards completing this 5 game story-arc.”

Jeremy wishes players enjoy what they see and experience with The Abandoned Planet and hopes they complete it. Pointing out his story arc, Jeremy hopes players are “eager to follow the rest of the games. I don’t know of another developer doing something like this. I hope they recognize it as unique and that they are excited to see more!”

When it comes to future content, Fryc confirmed that The Abandoned Planet is content complete, and there are no plans to expand this specific game. However, he adds that characters from The Abandoned Planet will appear in his upcoming games.

He concludes saying: “If there was a direct sequel, I suppose it would be the 4th game in my 5 game arc. So, right now, I’m working on Dexter Stardust: Odyssey in Outer Space (it was Returns to Outer Space, but I’m going to change it). After that, I’ll get to work on a came called It Came from the Deep. That game could be considered a direct sequel to this game. No spoilers though!”

Final Verdict from the Editor

The Abandoned Planet offers a unique blend of immersive gameplay and a captivating story. As a solo project, it reflects Jeremy Fryc’s passion for creating a connected universe with memorable characters. While the game itself is content complete, it’s clear that this is just the beginning of a larger, exciting saga. If you are a fan of adventure games, you’ll find much to enjoy and look forward to in the coming titles. Get the game on Android and iOS.

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