COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction is a very stylish and witty point and click adventure with a super cool silhouetted visual style and an intriguing non-linear story set in a post apocalyptic steampunk world.
Taking place in a world where an industrial catastrophe has made the planet surface inhabitable, people now live in giant towers high up in the sky to escape the pollution. The core gameplay in COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction is inspired by classics like Monkey Island, with fun brainteasing puzzles and some very funny dialogue. However, the devs have set out to minimise hunting for tiny little hotspots and the frustration of attempting to combine everything in your inventory with everything else (rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle anyone?). Most of the puzzles can also be solved in a variety of different ways, both minimising your chances of getting stuck and increasing the replay value of the game.
Another clever aspect of COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction is that the chapters of the story play out in a non chronological order – allowing the player to affect the past and the future through ‘retrocausality’, with your actions dramatically affecting the story and your route to the games eight possible endings. Judging by the quality of the artwork animation and writing in the current demo build your journey though the game is going to be a funny, surprising and thoroughly enjoyable one too. By the end of the demo build you’ll to explore more of this superb silhouetted sky-bound adventure – we certainly are! Highly recommended.
Check Out The COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction Kickstarter Here
Download The COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction Alpha Demo Here (Windows)