The Next BIG Thing

My first impression of The Next BIG Thing was that somebody at Pendulo Studios had crammed a 1940s Hollywood monster movie, a Monkey Island puzzle book, and a Saturday morning cartoon into a single executable, then dared you to complain. Set in an alternate history where real creatures from horror films are genuine celebrities, the game pairs neurotic reporter Liz Allaire with arrogant sports hack Dan Murray across eight chapters of classic point-and-click adventuring. The premise sounds absurd on paper, partly because it is. Venus flytrap dogs, a zeppelin escape sequence, a thousands-of-years-old mummy princess running a magic show - none of it is explained, and the game is better for that restraint. On the mechanical side this is old-school stuff: mouse-only navigation, an inventory that fills with bizarre items like soul extractors and fake chupacabra claws, and puzzles built almost entirely around combining those objects in ways the average person would never consider. Three difficulty tiers adjust how much hand-holding you get - the hotspot highlighter that reveals every interactive object on screen, and a narrator-driven hint system that gives you a vague nudge when you ask for help. One important caveat: difficulty is locked at the start and cannot be changed mid-game, so pick carefully before you begin. Most puzzles are fair once you settle into the adventure-game headspace; a musical flower-tango puzzle and a hieroglyph syntax challenge are the two notorious exceptions where the game's logic orbits a different planet entirely. What consistently impresses is the production. The hand-drawn backgrounds are lush - an Egyptian magic theatre and a zeppelin interior stand out - and the cell-shaded character animations are expressive enough to carry the comedy on their own. Voice acting for Liz and Dan is genuinely good, and the bickering chemistry between them gives the whole thing its engine. Critically, the game picked up awards for Best Sound, Best Graphics, and Best Script at Spain's ADIV industry awards after release, and the Steam community currently sits at 83% positive across several hundred reviews, which is not a fluke for a title this niche. The honest criticisms are real, though. The game runs about six hours with essentially zero replay value once you know the solutions. The plot starts abruptly and takes a chapter or so to find its footing. Some puzzle solutions are genuinely nonsensical - the kind where the game's own narrator retroactively explains the logic you apparently just applied by accident. And Mac users should be aware the game is not compatible with macOS Catalina or later, so verify your system before purchasing. These are not dealbreakers for the target audience, but someone expecting tight, Grim Fandango-level puzzle design may find the rougher moments frustrating. For the right player, none of that matters much. If you grew up with LucasArts adventures and want something that recaptures that tone without pretending it's 1993, or if you just want a funny, good-looking story you can finish in a couple of evenings, this delivers. Genre newcomers will appreciate the accessibility options. Veterans will appreciate that Pendulo still trusts players to actually think, even when the thinking required is deeply weird.

Alex · Scout Team

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