Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town was Gameffine’s introduction to imaginarylab, the Italian Indie game studio focusing on creating classic point-and-click adventure games. Willy Morgan proved to be a surprise, winning our reviewer Niranjan’s favor. In his words, “the sarcastic, witty dialogue, the interesting setting and characters, and most of all, the clever puzzles make Willy Morgan worth playing through”. Four years after the fact, imaginarylab is gearing up to launch its second adventure endeavor. With Niranjan being nowhere to be seen, I took it upon myself to have a hands-on approach with Titled Whirlight – No Time To Trip, a witty romp through space and time.
According to marketing, Whirlight is a hilarious redefinition of the point-and-click adventure genre featuring a colorful cartoon aesthetic, art style, and music unique to each time travel period, and over 100 explorable scenarios, from prehistory to the distant future. While I did not get to explore the 100 available scenarios in the 40-minute demo, I did get to have an early taste of what players can expect when Whirlight launches next year for PC.
The hero of Whirlight is Hector mAY, a brilliant but troubled inventor with a close relationship with misfortune. Coming upon the idea for a new invention after an unexpected visit to a surreal dimension, Hector will have to explore the port town of Verice Bay to achieve his goal. But things are not as easy as they seem and Hector soon lands in trouble. Fortunately, this leads him to meet Margaret, a strong and determined artist, and a perfect traveling companion. In the developer’s words, “Together they will embark on a series of adventures through space and time, amidst bizarre characters and unlikely situations, until they foil an imminent threat that looms over the entire world.”
The demo included a small bye of what I assume to be the starting moments of Whirlight. While I did not get to meet Margaret, Hector’s quirky antics were enough to convince me to put Whirlight on my ever-growing wishlist. While the Whirlight’s gameplay is classic point & click through and through, it’s the humor and the gorgeous visuals that won me over.
The game begins with Hector waking up in a surreal environment after spending a night trying to come up with new ideas. Right from the get-go Whirlight’s genre tropes are apparent- click on anything that may seem important and figure out what to do next. Thankfully, you can just hold the right mouse button to highlight all interactable objects so that most of the brain-scratching can be laid aside. It’s not long before a magical butterfly pops out of a gift box and transports Hector to a dreamlike world littered with weird and mundane objects. It’s here that the player is taught the most important elements of puzzle solving – combining items to create a new one.
The game’s mechanics are well-tuned, balancing challenge and accessibility. While the demo is not fully representative of the whole game, hardly any moments made me scratch my head. The controls are responsive, which is crucial for a game that demands a lot of clicking. Plus, there’s full voice acting, which is a pretty big deal for an adventure game. The music is catchy and complements the whimsical nature of the game, which makes playing the game a jolly-good affair.
My takeaway from this short review is that “Whirlight: No Time to Trip” is shaping up to be a delightful game that manages to combine engaging gameplay with a charming aesthetic. Its blend of action and puzzle-solving, along with its colorful presentation, makes it a fun experience for fans of the genre. The game may not offer the most complex mechanics, but it succeeds in delivering an entertaining and visually appealing adventure.
Whirlight – No Time To Trip will launch on PC via Steam in 2025, with Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox platforms to follow.
