Slender Threads is an engrossing point n’ click horror with old school charm, out this week

I don’t end up covering as many classic point and click adventures as I’d like on RPS. That’s a real shame, because every time I play a good one, I’m reminded how much magic the genre still has. Developer Blyts (Kelvin And The Infamous Machine) was kind enough to send me over a key for Slender Threads, which is out this Friday. My opinion as a complete non-expert on the genre? Yep, this one’s absolutely worth a look.

“Every night it’s the same dream: my own head, mounted on a wall,” begins both the Steam description and the game’s introduction. You play as traveling salesman and aspiring writer Harvey, a man I can instantly relate to because of how utterly defeated he seems. You ever get a sense that you’re going to like something just from hearing a few lines of dialogue? Slender Threads isn’t overwritten or grandiose, but there’s something immediately engrossing about the cadence of it all. Not to put too fine a point on it, but obviously the gig involves sifting through quite a lot of slop each day to find something worth highlighting, and I think the most direct way I can describe Slender Threads is it feels like something made by a real human being who had a story to tell, albeit one that doesn’t skimp on Lucasarts silliness. The story in question:

While wandering an unfamiliar town, Harvey Green follows a string of paranormal events to a grim realization: his recurring nightmare may foretell an inescapable fate. In this point-and-click thriller adventure, guide Harvey through the peculiar streets, shops, and surroundings of Villa Ventana as he seeks to prevent his visions from becoming reality.

And here are some features from Steam, which also has a prologue demo.

• A timeless point-and-click blend of exploration, dialogue, and puzzle-solving
• A curious tale that melds shocking twists with absurd humor
• Dozens of strange, memorable characters brought to life by a cast of celebrated voice actors
• Hand-drawn art that combines 2D and 3D to create striking, “diorama-like” visuals
• An original, haunting score

The other part of the gig is reviewing very large RPGs when I’d much rather be playing more of this, so I’ll put my full thoughts on hold for now. Let me know how you get on with the prologue.