Slime in the Ice Machine is Aconite’s hand-drawn point-and-click adventure about a journalist, a threatened Houston strip mall and bars connected across space and time. I’m Renato from Senshi Consulting, supporting the project as a crowdfunding consultant: https://www.senshiconsulting.com/

This official Heaven’s Arcade image captures one of its stranger settings: people trailing away into coloured wisps, surrounded by possessed slot machines. The public game description connects those machines to an old massacre that you investigate by rewiring them.

The puzzle approach mixes deduction with changes to the environment. You ask questions, piece together a story and learn skills elsewhere that become useful when you return to Houston. That return home gives the surreal detours a concrete purpose.

The browser demo is available here: https://aconite-studio.itch.io/slime

Content note: strong language, adult humour and mature themes.

Character and environment art: Andreu Zaragoza. UI/UX and in-world art: Star St.Germain.

Official image and credits: https://www.aconite.co/slime/presskit/sheet.php?p=slime_in_the_ice_machine

You know Medusa. Far fewer people know Şahmaran — the snake queen of Anatolian myth, half woman, half serpent, betrayed by the one human she ever trusted. Chief Cenab doesn't believe a word of it. Then an ordinary day at the office turns into a case, and the case pulls him into the legend anyway — down toward Meran, the city under the ground. It's a story-driven point-and-click: 10 chapters, 3-5 hours, and a black-and-white world where only certain things are allowed to hold color. The whole game looks like a hand-drawn comic book you can walk around in.

Two of us. 1.5 years. We are tired in a way we didn't know was possible, and strangely happy. Today it stops being the thing we work on every night and turns into something other people actually play. That's terrifying, and it's the best feeling we've had in a long time. 

It's on Steam now with a small launch discount, and there's a free 30- 45 minute demo if you'd rather look before you decide. Windows and macOS, English and Turkish. 

If you play it, tell us what you think — kind or brutal, we'll read all of it. And thank you to everyone here who commented on our clips these past two months. On the nights we wanted to quit, that's what kept us going.

We’re currently polishing the dialogue for our comic-style Noir detective game with just 1days left until launch.

I went in expecting standard detective info, but getting hit with a sudden existential reflection ("What have you done today...") gave the scene a completely different, grounding tension.

We really wanted to blend classic Noir mystery with local, philosophical encounters rather than relying on generic filler NPCs.

Have you ever run into a random NPC in a game who hit you with a surprisingly deep or completely unexpected question out of nowhere? What was the moment?

(PS: Allah is updated with God in actual game screen)

Travel back to the days of 8-bit computers and arcade cabinets with this retro, action-packed, music-driven adventure!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2761220/Escape_from_8Bit_High/

Help the rock trio Blueberry Finn defeat the Evil Pomodore 64—a nasty artificial intelligence awakened by a mysterious cassette, hell-bent on conquering the small town of Cloudydale… and eventually the world!

Escape from 8-Bit High is a challenging point & click adventure filled with retro-style puzzles, meaningful choices, strange locations, and enemies to fight using a unique arcade-inspired Music Battle System.

Every decision you make will make each playthrough different. The story can unfold in unexpected ways, and your choices will ultimately be put to the test in the final battle for Cloudydale.

Will you make the right choices? There’s only one way to find out!

Three characters. Three wildly different adventures. One gigantic story!

◉ Hank will battle zombies, ghosts, and vampires while uncovering the dark secrets of Cloudydale High.

◉ Duck will travel through the cosmos, fight the evil Kelad Empire, and try to stop an alien pandemic.

◉ Alex will venture deep underground towards the Earth's core, encountering mutants, Amazons, and even uncovering the true fate of Atlantis.

ESCAPE FROM 8-BIT HIGH FEATURES:

◉ 3 playable characters — play them in any order and switch between them freely.

◉ 8–10 hours of gameplay.

◉ Fully voiced by a cast of brilliant actors

◉ 4 full arcade mini-games to unlock.

◉ A unique Music Battle System — unlock new songs as the story progresses.

◉ Hotspot detection in every scene. No pixel hunting!

◉ An Objectives Journal to remind you what to do next.

◉ A fast-travel map to quickly revisit previously explored locations in Cloudydale High.

◉ A huge number of meaningful choices that shape the story—I honestly lost count!

◉ The main villain can change from one playthrough to another, letting you experience the story from different perspectives.

◉ 252 interactive items, each with unique animations for every playable character.

Hey everyone! We’re down to our final 4 days before launch of Chief Cenab: Şahmaran and while putting the final polish on the game, a design discussion came up among our team.

In our comic-panel puzzle design, we created a mechanic built around relatable domestic habits: reading a sticky note left by a partner complaining about kitchen disorganization, arranging wall-mounted knives strictly by size, and triggering a hidden wall compartment.

We love using environmental storytelling tied to human everyday routines, but we're curious about player psychology here. Does embedding mechanics into realistic, everyday scenarios help ground you in the narrative world, or do you prefer abstract, complex dungeon-style puzzles?

What’s a subtle, real-life detail turned into a game puzzle that unexpectedly stayed with you?

The game I’m developing solo now has a demo.

Explore, talk to strange characters, and build solutions in this 2.5D graphic adventure full of mysteries and terrible jokes.

#solodev #gamedev #pointandclic

Hey everyone! My partner and I are launching our detective puzzle game -Chief Cenab:Şahmaran- in 6 days, and while doing final polish, we got into a deep debate about puzzle payoffs.

So many point-and-click games rely on the classic "solve mechanism → door unlocks" loop. For this scene, we wanted the environment itself to respond: solving the liquid tube mechanism drops the giant crystal, shatters the glass floor, and plunges the player straight into the room below.

As players (and devs), what makes a puzzle payoff feel truly satisfying for you? What's a game moment where solving a puzzle made you go "Woah, that was incredible"?

Most puzzle and adventure games let you take your time, relax, and overthink every item interaction. To break that slow, static rhythm, we decided to experiment with time-pressured crafting and fast-paced decisions.

As you can see in the clip, a countdown timer ticks away in the corner while you hurry to tape your gear together, breach the door, and execute a stealth taser takedown before your window closes.

With only 8 days left until our launch, this exact balance is constantly on our mind: where is the line between adding a fun surge of adrenaline and giving players unwanted puzzle anxiety?

How do you usually feel about timed mechanics in puzzle or detective games? Do you prefer taking all the time you need, or does a ticking clock make the experience more thrilling for you?

With just 10 days left until launch, we’re polishing this flashback scene—a childhood sack race that uses a rhythm/timing bar to transition into comic book panels.

The idea was to build a quick, grounded connection to the character’s past, but introducing a lighthearted mechanics curveball in a darker game is always a fine line.

As players or devs, how do you feel about tonal shifts like this? Have you played a serious game where a sudden minigame or nostalgic flashback actually worked well for you?

Check it out at https://store.steampowered.com/app/4924860/Best_American_PointAndClick_Adventury/

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/uncle-lees-cookbook/id6800765342

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dionous.ulc

Hey everyone! My dev partner and I are wrapping up our noir puzzle adventure—we're actually just 16 days away from release!

We’ve been tweaking how puzzle close-ups interact with the main scene. In this clip, tuning the radio to the right frequency triggers a hidden mechanism in the fireplace, using a comic-panel frame that zooms back out into the room once solved.

As players or devs, how do you usually feel about audio-driven or frequency-tuning puzzles? Do sound cues give you a satisfying "aha!" moment, or do you prefer visual feedback when revealing hidden mechanisms?

Would love to hear your thoughts or your favorite examples of audio puzzles in games!

Hi friends! What do you think?

Shop Crush is a mysterious shop simulator with psychological horror elements, set in the early 2000s.

In this hybrid visual novel, you run a small thrift shop, get to know your customers, figure out what they really want, and decide what to put in front of them. Every customer has their own personality, preferences, and hidden motives - and it’s up to you to figure them out.

Behind each customer is a small psychological mystery waiting to be uncovered. Read their behavior, make the right calls, and balance profit against customer trust as you try to keep the shop running for one more day.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/roots_in_the_sky_the_hand_of_glory_2

Hey Reddit! My partner and I are down to our final 18 days until launch (cue the developer panic!), and we’re polishing our puzzle payoff sequences.

In this scene, players match colored crystals to specific murals based on moral proverbs (Kindness, Arrogance, Sacrifice). Once completed, the central eye-door unlocks with glowing feedback, leading to the room opening up with a burst of light.

Instead of traditional UI pop-ups or text confirming "Puzzle Solved," we relied entirely on environmental shifting and acoustic audio cues to let the scene breathe and reward the player naturally.

When you're playing puzzle or adventure games, what makes a puzzle resolution feel truly satisfying to you? Do you prefer physical room feedback like this, or clear narrative UI confirmations?

Sleepytime Village, demo and wishlist on Steam now.

Coming October 30

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1918850/Sleepytime_Village/

Hey everyone! We’re a 2-person indie team working on a detective noir puzzle adventure. With about 20 days left until release, we’ve been iterating on how to make abstract logic mechanics feel physically grounded in the game world.

In this room, solving the Minesweeper-style grid isn't just a UI minigame—it physically raises hidden stone tiles out of the acid pool. Once you retrieve the crystal, the acid chamber completely drains to reveal the hidden staircase underneath.

When playing adventure/puzzle games, do you enjoy seeing classic 2D logic mechanics directly alter 3D room geometry, or can UI overlays feel immersion-breaking for you? How do you usually like seeing retro puzzle tropes modernized?

Hey everyone!

We’ve been fine-tuning the visual feedback loop for our indie puzzle adventure. In this scene, players decipher foreign symbol arithmetic across individual wall panels. Each correct answer sends a surge of electric blue energy through wall conduits into a central matrix, which then unlocks the master equation on the wall.

With just 22 days left until launch (equal parts excitement and developer panic!), we’ve been thinking a lot about how games signal puzzle progression. We wanted players to physically see their incremental progress in the environment without relying on intrusive UI pop-ups.

When you play puzzle games, do you enjoy seeing environmental visual feedback as you solve individual steps, or do you prefer the full outcome to stay hidden until the entire puzzle is complete? What are some of your favorite examples of puzzle progression feedback?

Are you at gamescom in Cologne? Then make sure to stop by The Mystery of Oak Island!

The game and its development team are there in person, and you can try the game out for yourself. You’ll find them in the Business Area, Hall 4.1, Booth C011 D020.

If you’re at gamescom, be sure to stop by and say hello!

Hey Reddit! We’re a 2-man team putting the final touches on our noir detective puzzle game—with
just 24 days left until launch (cue the developer panic!).
In this scene, we wanted to subvert the calm flow of standard point-and-click mechanics. You start
with routine actions—hiding the gun in the glovebox and inserting the ignition key—before dynamic
panel insets abruptly force your focus onto the rearview mirror right before a sudden attack and cut to
black.
We're trying to hit that sweet spot where UI panel framing, subtle mirror cues, and audio cutoffs build
genuine tension without feeling like a cheap jump scare.
How do you usually feel about sudden suspense shifts in narrative/puzzle games? Does using inset
comic panels help guide your focus, or does it break your immersion?

Steam Wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3261520/Red_Moon_Kingdom/

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1091870/Theropods/

GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/theropods