Backbone is a relaxing, interesting and mysterious adventure game, it has great pixel art visuals, even on large screens, and the music is very immersive and sets the mood perfectly. You’re playing as a private investigator raccoon and you need to solve mysteries to progress through the game. This is done by observing stuff, talking to people, navigating neighbourhoods and buildings, and doing detective-y stuff.
While the pixel art and the hazy lighting blend perfectly in a post-noir setting, the best part of the game is the writing. The story grips you and keeps you wondering what’s next. Unfortunately, it’s also its weakest point, because while the story itself is pretty linear, the writing is well done in the first 3 acts, but it went south during the last two acts, not sure if the game was rushed, or if it’s a statement on the life of the main character’s personality. You do have some dialog options that have some weight and might unlock you some achievements, but the story follows a set path, and its ending is set in stone.
However, there is at least one fail point in the story, as I’ve managed to hit it, which says a lot about how crappy I am at games, even losing in a casual game.
The gameplay is simple, relaxed and the game takes only like 7-8 hours on a very relaxed play, so it’s a really quick play.
Replayability
Get it: EggNut
Spoilers!
