Phoenix Springs review

Back in the nineties the only way you’d get much of a story with your video game was if you were playing an adventure game. Those classic Lucasarts and Sierra titles were packed full of dramatic stories and iconic characters, but as the medium has advanced in years this once popular genre has slowly faded into the background. Well, as with all less popular types of video games, we can always rely on the indies to create something that appeals to a particular niche. Phoenix Springs is very much a modern day point and click game, with a rather genius twist.

Our protagonist Iris Dormer is a matter of fact tech journalist with one goal, to find out what has happened to her missing brother. With very little to go off, Iris sets to researching his life and following every clue possible to find her missing sibling. It’s a gritty noir adventure set in a pretty bleak future, which will eventually lead you to the titular desert oasis where everything changes.

As you’d probably expect from an adventure game, to achieve your goal you’ll need to scour environments and click on objects to advance the story. The game begins with you stood in a fairly empty room with a computer which you can use to find leads, but before you know it you’ll be off exploring abandoned university buildings, sketchy neighbourhoods and the house of your brother in order to discover where he might have disappeared to. The only difference is that instead of collecting objects and using them on other objects/people to progress, you collect thoughts.

There’s no massive inventory full of rubber chickens and sci-fi doodads in Phoenix Springs, but whenever you interact with something that reveals new information you’ll add a thought to your thoughts bubble. At the start of the game the only thought you have is Leo’s name, but dragging that onto a terminal will soon point you towards the university he teaches at, an address he’s been mailing and all sorts of other bits of information. Using it on a bookshelf will search for books written by him, and so on and so forth. It’s a really clever way to interact with the world that requires you to truly engage your brain, but does take some getting used to if you’re used to modern games guiding you gently by the hand.

There are a few ways to help you figure out what to do next when you’re struggling, like dragging a thought onto Iris and seeing what she makes of it. There’s no backtracking to previous environments either, so you’ll always have everything you need to think about right in front of you. Thoughts that are no longer needed are greyed out too, so you don’t have to worry about door codes long since input in later environments. If the worst comes to the worst the game has a link to a full guide in the tips menu, and if the developers don’t mind you using this then there’s no shame in doing so.

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The setting of Phoenix Springs is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a video game before. At first I was expecting a fairly standard cyberpunk gritty world to explore, but it’s much weirder than that. The first indication of this was at the abandoned university you explore early on, where a group of ravers are taking part in an insomnia event. Just to test their limits, this unusual group is aiming to spend days without sleeping with only the power of music keeping them going. Iris is the grounding presence in this bizarre world, factual and almost emotionless in how she interacts with what’s around her. It’s an incredibly compelling combination, and one that kept me engaged throughout.

Around halfway through the game there is a huge shift in the world and locations you explore, and the game becomes much more otherworldly and abstract. I don’t really want to spoil any of this twist in the narrative, but I will say it was jarring and changed the logic of the game in a way that I struggled with when it came to interacting with my thoughts and the world.

There’s a lot to love in Phoenix Springs, but one aspect that deserves special attention is the visual style. The minimalist art style is unlike anything I’ve played before, and is incredibly beautiful even though there isn’t a whole lot of detail in the environments. Small animations only highlight this further, and really add to the game as a whole.

Phoenix Springs is a game that’s both nostalgic and refreshing. It’s a throwback to adventure games with a unique way to interact with objects and people, with a setting that’s as intriguing as it is bizarre. Sometimes it can be a struggle to know how to progress, and the change in tone part way through only exasperates this, but this compelling game is well worth engaging your brain to see through to the end.