Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit

From a young age, I adored point-and-click games; I'd wander aimlessly trying to figure out how to grab an iron key using a semi-deflated innertube, or hypnotising a monkey so that it may be used as a literal monkey wrench.

- Mike Crewe

Publisher: Headup

Developer: Tag of Joy

Genre: Adventure

Release Date: Out Now

Platform: PC

But the feeling of sheer joy that came when figuring out a puzzle was, and still is, was a real rush. Unfortunately, point-and-click titles are few and far between in modern gaming, so I was overjoyed when I learnt of Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit. Inspired by iconic, genre-defining franchises such as Monkey Island and Broken Sword, this throwback game developed by Tag of Joy will have you falling in love with its endearing characters, intriguing storyline, and some truly head-scratching puzzles!

Crowns and Pawns starts off with our main character, Milda, creating herself as a simple avatar in an online game, whilst speaking to her best buddy Dana. This actually serves as a way to create your own version of Milda, choosing how she looks by editing her online persona, as well as deciding on her personality and career as she answers questions from Dana. It's a unique feature that instantly made me care for the character, and I decided that she would be a programmer, rather than one of the other job options, which changes the dialogue going forward. Regardless of the choices you make for Milda, she is overall a very likeable and believable character, with well-written dialogue (although I could say that about the entire cast) and a certain charm to her that everyone is sure to love.