Clarisse is an intriguing new point and click adventure game in which you play an AI which is tasked with assisting a Doctor who’s involved in pioneering research that looks set to change the world.
The devs of Clarisse have drawn inspiration from Papers, Please, Don’t Touch Anything and 2001: A Space Odyssey to create a well crafted puzzle adventure with a great sense of atmosphere and mystery. In the game you take on the role of Clarisse, an experimental AI that can scan it’s surroundings and learn how to operate equipment in the Doctor’s research lab. This way that you you interact with your environment has been designed to make the player feel like they are an AI, with you learning about your surroundings, then adapting and interacting with them accordingly.
You may be a high level experimental AI, but you’re not the focus of this research facility’s attention – you’re just there to assist the Doctor (and his cat) in groundbreaking research that really could change the world. The current Demo build serves as an intro to this story and serves as a great taster for things to come. It takes around 15 minutes to play through and really impresses with its stylish (and occasionally sinister) pixel art animation, intriguing narrative and genuinely challenging puzzle design. It’s nice to see an AI that’s not a homicidal maniac too – Skynet’s and HAL 9000’s give AI a bad name!
Download The Clarisse Alpha Demo Here (Windows & Mac)