Analysis of Rauniot, a post-apocalyptic adventure

Ruins it’s a new one post apocalyptic point-and-click adventure with isometric view and with all the features you would expect from the genre. It is developed by the independent Finnish studio Act Normal Games, made up of one person, Heikki Pulkkinen. The game is available in Steam.

History places us in the northern Finland,. Humanity has suffered various disasters natural areas and large portions of land were flooded. This caused the affected nuclear power plants to collapse, releasing a large amount of radiation. As if that wasn’t enough, there were also wars and different conflicts among humanity that survived. People are starving, some live alone, others engage in cannibalism, and the rest gather in organized groups. Aino, our protagonist, is part of one of these groups, and has a mission, find his companion Toivo and confirm the existence of a nuclear locomotive.

Rauniot’s gameplay

The gameplay of Ruins Is simple, It is based on finding and using objects while solving puzzles. Saying that the difficulty of the puzzles is varied, some are simple, while others are much more complex. I have to admit that on one occasion I had to ask Heikki, the developer himself, for help in solving one of them, because since the game wasn’t officially released, I didn’t I had no reference to guide me. In the end, it wasn’t that bad and was more due to my confusion.

Finding objects is relatively simple because when you hover over them they are highlighted in color and, if you still don’t see them, they also make a sound. Of note is the successful search for a shotgun shell, which I was unable to complete, so there I leave the challenge to you. On the other hand, something that didn’t really convince me was the inventory management, which is based on a single line. We can collect more items than we actually need and once we have them we won’t be able to drop them, forcing us to go through the inventory a bit. A good solution, from my point of view, could have been to have an inventory consisting of two lines or to have the possibility to store the items somewhere.

In Ruins Also we have a map. Our protagonist will be responsible for painting the new areas we explore, as well as writing down all the relevant information. A very useful feature is the fast travel that we can do from the map itself, we can also do it in areas by double clicking, which is appreciated. Finally and out of curiosity, the game gives us the freedom to use a gun to kill certain charactersalthough also we can’t do itthis will be important for the story, we will not be able to shoot a single bullet in the entire adventure either.

The audiovisual section is very neat

Ruins It is developed with Visionaire, an engine with a long history and constantly updated. The graphics are very well done and full of details, the animations are fluid and very consistent with the graphics themselves. The cutscenes are also colorful and eye-catching.

The frame is also very good, getting a very good immersion with its scenarios loaded with details and the filth and ruin you expect from an apocalypse. The setting is also present in the menus, for example in the main menu, which imitates an old PC, it even has an instruction manual where we can see information about the game and gameplay.

The sounds are very successful, except, in my opinion, the sound of the car at the start of the game, which is a little strange. The others are even satisfying to listen to. The music is by Paavo Härkönen, who gives us some environmental themes very consistent with the decor presented to us. Particular attention to the theme that can be heard indoors, being dark or even tense. Finally, the voices are in perfect Finnish with Spanish subtitles.

In short, Rauniot is…

Ruins This is a game to consider. It’s fun, intriguing, mysterious and replayable.. The story is nothing extraordinary but it has its scriptural touch. The gameplay is very classic although it has some quality of life improvements that are appreciated, such as fast travel. On the other hand, the inventory can be improved.

It’s a short game, the first game will be the longest, in my case around 9 hours, but the second will be much shorter. It’s also true that it doesn’t have to be any longer. Without a doubt, it is a title that It will delight both fans of the genre and fans of the post-apocalyptic setting, highly recommended.

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