Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure cover

Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure

First release
Nov 1993
Developer
Synergy Inc.
Genres
Adventure, Point-and-click, Visual Novel · Fantasy, Science fiction, Historical

A surreal first-person adventure game set in an unnamed city facing the end of the world. Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure is a notable early 1990s CD-ROM title, praised for its melancholic atmosphere and open-ended, emergent narrative design. It has since gone on to influence many visionary filmmakers, game designers, and visual artists.

Also known as Gadget: El pasado es el futuro, Gadget: Past as Future

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
The game's plot takes place in an unspecified (albeit vaguely Eastern European) nation headed by the dictator Orlovsky. The protagonist is a government agent tasked with discovering the whereabouts of a missing scientist named Horselover Frost. He begins his quest in a third-floor room of a luxury hotel (which is in fact the headquarters of the government's intelligence arm). After collecting his belongings in a suitcase, the protagonist takes an elevator ride to the lobby, during which a boy replaces the case with another identical one containing various spy-related paraphernalia. In the lobby, the government's intelligence chief briefs the protagonist on his mission. The protagonist then moves to the central railway station. From this point on all the events of the story take place on trains or at the various stations (which include the national science institute) along the nation's main rail line. The player must engage in scripted conversations with various individuals, each of whom reveals pieces of information that advance the protagonist in his quest.Read more

The game's plot takes place in an unspecified (albeit vaguely Eastern European) nation headed by the dictator Orlovsky. The protagonist is a government agent tasked with discovering the whereabouts of a missing scientist named Horselover Frost. He begins his quest in a third-floor room of a luxury hotel (which is in fact the headquarters of the government's intelligence arm). After collecting his belongings in a suitcase, the protagonist takes an elevator ride to the lobby, during which a boy replaces the case with another identical one containing various spy-related paraphernalia. In the lobby, the government's intelligence chief briefs the protagonist on his mission. The protagonist then moves to the central railway station. From this point on all the events of the story take place on trains or at the various stations (which include the national science institute) along the nation's main rail line. The player must engage in scripted conversations with various individuals, each of whom reveals pieces of information that advance the protagonist in his quest.

Release dates
Mac
Nov 1993
FM Towns
Nov 30, 1993
Mac
1994
All 7 release dates
PC (Microsoft Windows)
1995
Apple Pippin
1996
PC (Microsoft Windows)
1998
Mac
1999
Age ratings
USK 6
Perspective
First person
Keywords
cyberpunk, dystopian, cinematic, steampunk, steam
… All 24, espionage, conspiracy, mad scientist, silent protagonist, corrupt government, mind control, polygonal 3d, pop culture reference, retro future, scientist, agents, book tie-in, book adaptation, propaganda, slideshow cutscene, corruption, pre-rendered backgrounds, adapted to - movie, political