The Galician studio Nébula Games launches Shadows of the Afterland, a point-and-click graphic adventure for Switch and PC. The story is set in 1960s Madrid, a time of contrasts between developmentalism and repression. The player embodies a journalist investigating mysterious disappearances, combining classic puzzles with a historical suspense narrative.
Custom engine and retro-flavored puzzles 🎮
The game uses a graphics engine developed in-house, recreating 2D scenarios with a pictorial style. Puzzles are integrated into exploration, avoiding impossible inventories. The interface is minimalist and responds to the cursor. It has been optimized to run at 60 frames per second on both PC and the Switch dock, although in handheld mode it drops to 30 to save battery. The audio includes an original soundtrack with echoes of the era's jazz.
Time travel without leaving home 🕰️
The most curious thing about the project is that a team from Galicia has recreated 1960s Madrid without leaving their offices in Vigo. According to the developers, they used archive photos and express visits to the capital to capture the atmosphere. That said, let's hope they didn't mess up the coffee prices, because if a character pays five duros for a cortado, the immersion goes down the drain. At least, taxis back then were cheaper than Uber.