Developer: Epic Llama Games
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Adventure
Publisher: ESDigital Games
Unusual Findings immediately pulled me in with its nostalgic setting and intriguing mystery. The game feels like a love letter to ’80s pop culture, blending the coming-of-age adventure of Stranger Things with extraterrestrial conspiracy and classic point-and-click storytelling. Rather than throwing players straight into action, it slowly builds its mystery through a group of teenagers who begin uncovering strange events that seem far bigger than they first imagined. It is developed by Epic Llama Games and published by ESDigital Games.
What I enjoyed most was how naturally the story unfolds. Every conversation and discovery feels like another piece of a much larger puzzle, encouraging you to keep pushing forward just to see what happens next. The pacing keeps you invested without rushing the narrative, and every new objective feels like it has a genuine purpose in progressing the mystery.
The cast of characters also deserves a lot of praise. Each character has their own personality and plays an important role in the story, making the interactions feel believable and entertaining rather than simply existing to move the plot along.
At its heart, Unusual Findings is a classic point-and-click adventure game, and it sticks closely to the genre’s foundations. Players explore different locations by interacting with objects, inspecting environments, collecting useful items and speaking to other characters. As you gather clues and expand your inventory, you’re expected to combine information and objects to solve the puzzles standing in your way.
The controls are simple and intuitive. Clicking around the environment to inspect everything quickly becomes second nature, and I appreciated how the game allows you to examine almost everything rather than only highlighting the obvious interactable objects. It makes exploring each area feel rewarding, especially if you’re the type of player who enjoys uncovering every little detail.
That being said, the puzzles were probably the one area where I felt the experience became a little inconsistent. Most of them follow logical progression once you’ve gathered enough information, but there were several moments where I found myself unsure what the game actually wanted me to do next. Sometimes the solution wasn’t particularly intuitive, which led to a bit of unnecessary trial and error. Thankfully, once you eventually piece together the clues and inventory items, the answers do make sense; it just occasionally takes longer than I’d personally like. I do really like that with the new update, Vinny’s Diary, you get a diary that will share some hints for puzzles to assist players without completely giving away the answer.
Without a doubt, one of my favourite aspects of Unusual Findings is its presentation. The pixel art is absolutely gorgeous, perfectly capturing that retro aesthetic without feeling outdated. Every environment is packed with detail, colourful lighting and subtle animations that make the world feel alive. While the game isn’t a traditional side-scroller, the way each area is framed and explored gives it a similar nostalgic feel that instantly reminded me of classic adventure games.
The animations during dialogue and cutscenes also deserve recognition. Small character movements, expressive reactions and cinematic transitions add so much personality to every interaction. It helps elevate what could otherwise be simple conversations into genuinely engaging scenes.
The soundtrack is another standout feature. Every track perfectly complements the atmosphere, whether it’s building tension during mysterious moments or adding energy to lighter scenes. It’s one of those soundtracks that sticks with you long after you’ve stopped playing. Combined with the excellent voice acting, the audio presentation adds an impressive amount of life to the game.
The voice performances were actually one of my biggest surprises. I expected to spend most of the game simply reading dialogue, but the fully voiced cast adds so much charm and personality to each character. It makes conversations feel far more engaging and gives the story an emotional depth that wouldn’t have been quite as effective through text alone.
Unusual Findings was quite the delight. The game’s biggest strength is how effortlessly it captures that nostalgic feeling without relying solely on nostalgia to carry the experience. It has an interesting mystery, memorable characters, fantastic presentation and enough humour to keep the story entertaining throughout.
I especially loved the retro pixel art style and the soundtrack, both of which work together brilliantly to create a world that’s easy to get lost in. The voice acting was another huge highlight and made the narrative much more engaging than I originally expected.
My only real criticism lies with some of the puzzle design. While I appreciate games that don’t constantly spell out the solution, there were moments where the next objective wasn’t particularly obvious. Instead of feeling challenged, I occasionally felt like I was simply guessing what interaction the game wanted from me. Thankfully, those moments weren’t frequent enough to ruin the experience, but they did interrupt the pacing every now and then.
Unusual Findings is a fantastic adventure for anyone who enjoys classic point-and-click games, supernatural mysteries and retro aesthetics. Its combination of engaging storytelling, excellent voice acting, beautiful pixel art and memorable soundtrack creates an experience that’s both nostalgic and refreshingly modern. If you’re a fan of games like Thimbleweed Park, Monkey Island or simply love mystery-driven adventures with plenty of personality, Unusual Findings is absolutely worth checking out.
Overall: 7/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
