This is the 13th point and click I’ve played in this series, and of those, I think I’ve genuinely enjoyed four. Point and clicks, as a genre, are something I struggle with. I recognise there’s a fair few in my library because they’re indie favourites and a staple of 90s gaming, but I think there’s several reasons the industry has mostly moved past them or evolved them into something else. In playing through Day of the Tentacle, I thought more about why point and clicks don’t work for me, and what seems to be specifically unique to how I play.

Look, this is one of the most acclaimed games of all time, and if I focused on the game specifically, I don’t know that I’d be adding anything new to the conversation. Instead, this review is both going to talk about Day of the Tentacle as a game, and about my issues with point and clicks.

As long as we’re all clear on the stakes here.

Day of the Tentacle is a point and click adventure game. Players play as three characters - Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne - as they accidentally free a megalomaniacal, mutant purple tentacle. Once freed, they must travel through time to undo the tentacle’s mutation, communicating and helping one another across time, and hopefully, eventually, saving the world from its tentacular fate.

I played the 2016 remastered version of this game because I’m not a masochist, and so my gameplay experience is likely different from those whose main experience is with the original 1993 version. The 2016 remaster is still a traditional point and click adventure, but with some streamlined controls. Players have a dial of options to choose from when interacting with objects, and occasional prompts suggesting they try interacting with objects in combination with something else. While the game doesn’t provide hints, it does provide a dynamic world with a range of things to interact with, allowing the player to constantly feel like they are progressing, even if it’s not entirely clear how.

I wonder if, someday, future physicists will look at E=mc2 the way we look at Ptolemy’s geocentric model. If only there was some sort of device that would let me find out…

Generally, when I review point and clicks, I talk about not generally enjoying point and clicks because of their mechanics and the assumptions they expect players to make (and I will get to that in this review). The point and clicks I do enjoy are the ones with interesting twists on those mechanics ( The ABC Murders ), a compelling narrative and setting that keeps me curious ( Beholder 2 ), or ones with such a delightful setting and atmosphere that I can’t help but be charmed ( Botanicula ). Day of the Tentacle doesn’t fall into any of these categories, but I still enjoyed it. Even with its sometimes stilted voice acting and awkward delivery, Day of the Tentacle’s writing is deliciously funny. When combined with its Looney Tunes-esque visuals and fun music, I couldn’t help but enjoy myself, smiling with the zaniness of each problem’s solution.

This is compounded by the game having a lush and full environment for the player to interact with. Rather than having a few items with which to puzzle through any given situation, players have a wide array of objects at their disposal. This environment asks players to think creatively, and provides them with the opportunity to feel like they’re making constant progress towards some goal, even if it’s not clear what that goal is, or what progress they’ve made towards it. When I make fake barf fall from a ceiling, for example, I know I’ve done something , even if I have no idea what the significance or point of that something is. I still get little happy feelings at knowing I have impacted my environment, and that feels meaningful. There’s a lot here to love, even for people like me who aren’t particularly big fans of point and clicks.

That horse has seen things.

Ultimately, though, Day of the Tentacle does show its age. The voice acting can be stilted, and some jokes don’t land like they would have in the early 90s. As much as the player can feel like they’re progressing, the pathway to actual progress can sometimes be arcane and unclear, and the game offers no hints or advice on what else a player might want to try. Still, the game’s charm and sense of humour keep it accessible, even as its mechanics betray just how old it is.

On the whole, Day of the Tentacle is still a fun little game. It is perhaps not the most accessible for modern gamers, but it also doesn’t pretend to be. It knows it’s a relic of a bygone era, dropped unceremoniously in a time not its own, and it’s okay with that. It’s here to cause some mischief, have a sense of humour, and maybe, just maybe, bring some joy along the way.

Developer: Lucasarts

Genre: Adventure, Point-And-Click

Year: 1993

Country: United States

Language: English

Play Time: 7-8 Hours

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