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Over the past month or so, I've had the pleasure of beta testing The Journey Down Chapter 2, and whilst it's still got a couple of rough edges that will be smoothed out prior to its newly announced launch date of the 25th of August, it's been a joy to play.

Chapter 2 is much longer than its predecessor and features better pacing and a more structured plot. The puzzles and their solutions are non-obtuse (by point and click adventure standards) - a big plus for those who like their puzzles to make sense.

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Along with the announcement of the game's upcoming release date, Skygoblin have opened up pre-orders for a discounted price (which also includes the first chapter). In addition, 50% of pre-order proceeds will be going to help fund the Mavuno girl's school project in Tanzania.

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Programmer Mathias mentions some of their motivation behind supporting this charity.

QuoteBack in 2008, I was doing field word for my master’s thesis on IT and poverty alleviation, and I got to work four months with some really skilled and inspiring people at Mavuno Project, a local grassroots NGO in north-west Tanzania. Mavuno supports the local population in different ways, e.g., providing education, microfinance services, rain water harvesting and support for organic farming.

Mavuno's latest and most ambitious project is the construction of a secondary school for girls aged between 14 and 20 years in the village of Chonyonyo. The project is an initiative designed to empower women in the Kagera region and it’s carried out together with Engineers Without Borders.


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Pre-orders can be made via the Humble Widget on thejourneydown.com, which include DRM free direct downloads as well as Steam keys (first the first chapter instantly, and for chapter 2 once it's released).

Cacti rule. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Game developer, Linux helper person, and independent writer/interviewer.

Currently working on Winter's Wake, a first person text adventure thing and its engine Icicle. Also making a little bee themed base builder called Hive Time :)

I do more stuff than could ever fit into a bio.
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14 comments

Segata Sanshiro Aug 11, 2014
Trying to decide whether to play this, Book of Unwritten Tales or The Raven next. Any suggestions?
Cheeseness Aug 11, 2014
If you're interested in chatting with other players/developers, we'll be doing The Journey Down Chapter 2 for Game Club at some point (probably next month).

I personally felt like The Raven was more enjoyable than The Book of Unwritten Tales, although The Raven has a few fairly average animations here and there (although not enough to really detract from it). The Raven's got some nice pacing, is well structured and really presents its atmosphere well.
Bumadar Aug 11, 2014
Trying to decide whether to play this, Book of Unwritten Tales or The Raven next. Any suggestions?

compared to the 2 you mentioned Journey down part 1 is really small, fun though but in size it does not match. BoUT is the best of the 3, raven is 2nd and JD is 3rd (from this list anyways)
Eike Aug 11, 2014
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You're asking us if you should read a comic book or a detective story?!? ;o)
I found Book of Unwritten Tales easier than others because the hot spots are vanishing after some clicks if not needed anymore. So after some time, it boils down to the one or two spots you still need and the solution becomes more and more obvious. Depending on what you like, this might be an advantage or an disadvantage...

PS: How about Broken Sword 5? Or Deponia? :)
Segata Sanshiro Aug 11, 2014
If you're interested in chatting with other players/developers, we'll be doing The Journey Down Chapter 2 for Game Club at some point (probably next month).

What club is this? On SteamLUG? Need to get more involved with that, seems like there's always good things.

(becoming hugely off topic now, sorry)

After all those suggestions, I realised I have BS5 and The Maker's Eden as well... Been buying every adventure game on sale. Played the Deponia trilogy already (and some other Daedailic games through Wine).

Broken Sword is a series (despite being a big adventure fan) which I have never played for some reason. Can you play 5 without having played the others?

Still don't know what to play :P Never thought that there would ever be too many Linux games (or adventure games) to choose from.
DrMcCoy Aug 11, 2014
Can you play 5 without having played the others?

Yes. There's a few references to the other games, but you can still play it without any problems.

I would recommend you getting the first two games too, though, since they're great. The Director's Cut editions on Steam even work on Linux. Or alternatively, the originals work with ScummVM. :)
chrisq Aug 11, 2014
Trying to decide whether to play this, Book of Unwritten Tales or The Raven next. Any suggestions?

I'd say The Raven.
sharkwouter Aug 11, 2014
Trying to decide whether to play this, Book of Unwritten Tales or The Raven next. Any suggestions?
Get Deponia: The Complete Journey or Broken Age instead, they are some of the best point and click adventure games I've seen and they are available for Linux.

For some reason Book of Unwritten Tales was very annoying for me to play, the logic in that game is really weird. The Journey Down is pretty good, but quite short.
Cheeseness Aug 11, 2014
What club is this? On SteamLUG? Need to get more involved with that, seems like there's always good things.

That would be the community run Double Fine Game Club. Think of it as a book club, but for games - we pick a title, play it in our own time, then come together to discuss it on weekends whilst somebody streams in the background. Right now, we're doing Toonstruck, which runs "natively" in ScummVM. We're expecting to have Keith Arem (one of the original developers who now owns the rights to the game and is looking toward raising enthusiasm for a re-release or sequel) joining us this coming weekend.


Veering slightly back on topic, I noticed some people mentioning that they felt that the first chapter of The Journey Down was very short. This second chapter is much longer.
vulture Aug 12, 2014
Trying to decide whether to play this, Book of Unwritten Tales or The Raven next. Any suggestions?

Journey down is more or less average game.

BoUT is just... hilarious. i don't like p'n'c games at all. so, i ended up buying it in my support nordic games initiative and when i started playing it to register as linux user... i couldn't stop until the end. jokes are so well written. not to mention ending is total FTW!!!! in every other p'n'c game i get bored in hour or so
Cheeseness Aug 12, 2014
Journey down is more or less average game.
It's important to view TJD as a continuing story. The first chapter on its own isn't comparable to the whole game that TBoUT is, though personally, I found TJD to be funnier and more interesting.
Segata Sanshiro Aug 12, 2014
Get Deponia: The Complete Journey or Broken Age instead, they are some of the best point and click adventure games I've seen and they are available for Linux.

I played the Deponia trilogy a good while back and loved it (even wrote an article on this site about it). Broken Age though I hated. Would give my reasons but it would turn into a rant, still love im's work though.

That would be the community run Double Fine Game Club. Think of it as a book club, but for games - we pick a title, play it in our own time, then come together to discuss it on weekends whilst somebody streams in the background. Right now, we're doing Toonstruck, which runs "natively" in ScummVM. We're expecting to have Keith Arem (one of the original developers who now owns the rights to the game and is looking toward raising enthusiasm for a re-release or sequel) joining us this coming weekend.

Toonstruck is definitely in my top 3 adventure games of all time. I was actually heavily involved in a project to make a fan-made sequel to the game before Keith announced the sequel a few years back (which then disappeared). I won't miss that then! Have some questions I want to ask him, so looking forward to that.

Think I'll play The Raven, seems to be the general consensus. Broken Sword series after that.
flesk Aug 12, 2014
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Chapter 2 is much longer than its predecessor and features better pacing and a more structured plot. The puzzles and their solutions are non-obtuse (by point and click adventure standards) - a big plus for those who like their puzzles to make sense.

Veering slightly back on topic, I noticed some people mentioning that they felt that the first chapter of The Journey Down was very short. This second chapter is much longer.

While I personally really liked the first chapter, I've noticed that the chapter's length and obtuseness of the puzzles (the breadstick one in particular) have been recurring issues in reviews of the game, so it's good to hear that those have been addressed.

Also, I'm very envious of you for having already played chapter 2. :P
flesk Aug 12, 2014
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After all those suggestions, I realised I have BS5 and The Maker's Eden as well... Been buying every adventure game on sale. Played the Deponia trilogy already (and some other Daedailic games through Wine).

Broken Sword is a series (despite being a big adventure fan) which I have never played for some reason. Can you play 5 without having played the others?

The Maker's Eden is very short (1-2 hours) and also more of a visual novel than a point and click adventure. I enjoyed the story but it's not a game you play primarily for the puzzles.

I was in the same boat regarding Broken Sword. I didn't play the first one until after the Kickstarter for the fifth was announced and I still haven't played BS2. Overall it's a pretty nice classic point and click adventure game, but I thought it lacked some of the "magic" of the LucasArts classics (could be due to lack of nostalgia though, since I still really love Beneath a Steel Sky). Broken Sword 5 seemed to pretty much follow the same recipe and I thought it was enjoyable.
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