Absorbing, thrilling action in a creepy setting by using minimalist design was another attempt Richard Bayliss tried to implement into the game Darkland with the help of the SEUCK (Shoot'Em Up Construction Kit) engine. The programmer is no stranger to this type of development environment. He has his own website on which several hundreds of his games and demos for the C64 are offered. The screenshots on the itch.io website gave me reason to hope that the creative spark leaps over to him and that the result was not just another faceless blast-the-baddies game.
Two pilots encounter a space station where something's fishy. It has been overrun by aliens. Heroic as they are, they decide to clean the place out. No questions asked. It is the first encounter with a sentient otherworldly lifeform, after all. So what other option is there but to shoot? Right, thought so.
Maybe it's just that they've just watched Aliens. Nowadays, with the so-called prequel series (starting with Prometheus) being in full swing, things may have gone somewhat back to the roots stylistically, but at the time this game came out, the ultra-militaristic action blockbuster from the mid-80s was what most people had in mind – and Alien Breed delivered on those expectations.
Hunger Daemon is a game about the search of a long-time veterinarian student for a heart, a girl and something to eat… not necessarily in this order. His journey is linked to his uncle, who wants to take over the world by summoning an elder being into his body. Of course this cannot be for real, so the only serious question he has to ask himself is: When are you going to get your hands on some food?
Probably the best way to describe this text adventure would be as an interactive horror spoof fiction set in the world of the Cthulhu Mythos. It pokes a lot of fun at inane gibberish chanting, gathering obscure items or tomes for overly dramatic rituals at tastelessly decorated altars, very narrow minded monster beetles and digging up otherworldly artefacts in places where anyone could have stumbled upon them ages ago. What is especially nice is the stark contrast between the comparatively 'normal' everyday adventure game action, you will have to do to finish the game, and the somewhat strange things which are going on in that cellar.
