Street Magic

Join a paranormal police force in point-and-click adventure UNavowed.

- Andy Kelly

If you’ve ever woken up after a wild night out and cringed as a friend recounted every embarrassing thing you did in excruciating detail, you’ll likely resonate with Unavowed. Except the main character didn’t drink too many caipirinhas at happy hour and get thrown out of a club for being sick on the dancefloor; they were possessed by a demon who used their body to go on a murderous rampage across New York City.

Unavowed begins as the demon is being forcibly extracted from you on a rain-lashed rooftop. In this dramatic intro you decide whether you’re a man or a woman and choose from three backgrounds – actor, cop or bartender – each of which has its own origin story and unlocks dialogue options later on.

This is one example of how Unavowed seasons its familiar point-and-click template with light role playing elements. I love it, because you rarely get to choose who you play as in these games, and it does take some getting used to. Whether it’s Guybrush Threepwood, George Stobbart, or Manny Calavera, graphic adventures are often defined by strong lead characters. Here the protagonist feels much more like a blank cipher for the player.