A Date in the Park

It’s a given that adventure games are here to stay, even if the point & click era is pretty much gone at this point. There are a few exceptions, but modern 3D games are just as good at creating a memorable atmosphere as the old classics were, albeit in different ways. Moreover, the puzzles can be just as exciting and tricky, at least as long as the developers put some thought into them.

A Date in the Park is a retro point & click adventure game with pixelated graphics and crude sprites that focuses on story and the puzzles instead of everything else. It’s not a very long experience, but it’s a pretty surprising one, especially if you are not familiar with the genre. However, even veterans should have a fun time with it, despite its apparent lack of polish in certain regards.

The story puts you in the role of a man by the name of Lou, who just moved to Lisbon, Portugal, and is about to start a new life here. His transition is eased by the fact that he meets a lovely girl in a bar, with whom he sets up a date in a beautiful park somewhere in the city. The park is where the adventure starts, and things get pretty weird in a matter of minutes after you get there.

Your task is to explore the park and examine areas of interest in the hopes of finding your date Catarina and figuring out a couple of other mysteries along the way. You can interact with the environment using simple mouse clicks, and you can also pick up items and store them in your inventory for future use. The formula is classic, so any fan of the genre should figure things out from the first seconds of gameplay.

The atmosphere is how the game impresses the audience, so it’s imperative that you pay attention to the plot, especially since it’s all over pretty quickly. Other than that, the graphics are nothing to write home about, but they are designed that way in order to create the proper mood. The music isn’t bad either, but again, nothing truly impressive in this regard.

In the end, it’s difficult to talk about A Date in the Park without spoiling it, but it’s definitely worth a play if you enjoy great stories and intriguing mysteries. On the other hand, don’t expect beauty or dreamy landscapes, because that’s not the case here.