The Abandoned Planet

Green
Oct 29, 2024
8 min read

Updated: Apr 1

Lost in an Alien World with Puzzles and Perplexities

The game captivates with its blend of point-and-click adventure and first-person puzzle-solving. Clever puzzles and nostalgic pixel art make it a treat for classic adventure fans.

About This Game

Storyline

When an astronaut’s spacecraft is drawn through a wormhole, she finds herself stranded on a mysterious, seemingly abandoned planet. To find her way home, she must navigate a landscape filled with the ruins of an alien civilization, uncovering clues and solving intricate puzzles that may lead to her escape or uncovering even deeper mysteries. What happened here after all?

Gameplay Mechanics

The Abandoned Planet brings a point-and-click adventure to life, blending retro inspiration with hand-drawn pixel art.

The game is divided into five chapters, each set within distinct and immersive environments with increasingly complex puzzles. The clever use of both environmental and inventory-based challenges adds a layer of depth, and puzzles strike a sweet spot: they’re challenging but almost never to the point of prolonged frustration.

Players will explore many areas and the lack of a fast-travel system in later chapters (Chapter 3 and Chapter 4) can sometimes make the game feel tedious due to lengthy backtracking.

The game’s intuitive hint system provides just the right amount of guidance for the early chapters, rarely giving too much or too little. However, certain sections, such as Chapter 3’s frequent use of back-and-forth travel, can drag the pacing and turn immersion into monotony.

To be honest, in some portions of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, it became so confusing, lengthy, and mazy that I needed external guidance. I went through everything more than 4 times before doing so, which was really frustrating.

At Chapter 3, there are clues that are a bit unrelated, and some actions only activate when you do certain things that make no sense (I will dive into more details in the “To Be Improved” section (avoid that section if you don’t want spoilers). Not only that, but it takes about 5 minutes to go from one place to the other, always going through the many paths and central junction. By the way, it’s important to note that you need to use the left trigger in the hexagon to find how to input the codes (this should have been hinted, since no other item has a similar property, and left trigger did nothing in previous items).

At Chapter 4, there was a certain item that was needed, but it was handed in a certain way that was never done before. Basically, it alters the way you play the game just for that specific scene, and thus leads to a very unrelated action. I understand the dev already tried to fix this one given previous reviews, but it is still an issue. It should just be handed from the get-go. There is one small bug later in the chapter regarding some action’s order. And the greenhouse has way too many turns, it is easy to get lost or miss something. If you come from the right, it’s not intuitive that going right again in an open area will lead to another section. A map could have helped showing if there is an unvisited area in this place.

The block puzzles are a dread, because they are really hard to control. It would be easier if we could rotate the block using the analogue and buttons (to fix each axis). Otherwise, it takes too long to even try to get the position you want. It fits quickly when it's close, but it's bothersome.

After you beat the game, there is an option to play the “Game+” version, which is basically re-doing everything within a 2h time limit. It seems kind of pointless in an adventure game, but I did it to check if there were any additions to the story or easter eggs. And no, there are no additions besides a planet explosion scene. I followed an almost optimal path, and it took me about 1h43, so it’s really challenging, and you have to know exactly what you are doing. Use your notes or you may have to re-do it more than once. It’s important to note that you must fail at least once to get one of the achievements, which is very bad. So, if you succeed in the first try, like me, then you will have to leave your game on for 2h to get the next achievement. There should be a way to speed it up. All in all, this is just a very bad way to try to make the game lengthier.

I know there are many criticisms in this section, but these are actually just ways to improve the game. I am leaving most of the positives and details out to avoid spoilers. It’s really great and you will definitely enjoy!

Visuals & Audio

The game shines with its pixel art graphics, which are crisp, atmospheric, and accompanied by cinematic quality.

The soundtrack complements the visuals, adding a subtle but immersive layer that fits the game's setting. The voice acting, though mostly well-done, suffers from an inconsistent British accent, which feels slightly forced.

One noticeable shortfall is the timing of the sound effects, which often continue after scene transitions, making certain moments feel unfinished.

Pros

Very Fun game.
Hand-drawn pixel art is beautifully detailed and enhances the alien atmosphere.
Puzzles are thoughtfully designed and strike a challenging yet accessible balance.
Music complements the visuals with a haunting, atmospheric score.
Well-paced tips that rarely feel intrusive, keeping players engaged.
The Script and Artwork in the Extras are nice touches.

Cons

Sound effects don’t always sync with scene changes, leaving moments feeling incomplete.
British accent in the voice acting feels artificial, occasionally breaking immersion.
Rotation for block puzzles is quite challenging.
Backtracking in Chapter 3: Repeated navigation through trains and mazes, paired with long travel times, slows pacing.
Hidden Items in Chapter 3: Objects can be difficult to locate, even when scanning with the cursor.
Chapters 3 & 4 - Specific Confusion: Some puzzles lack clear cues, resulting in confusion due to new mechanics or mazy areas.

To Be Improved

Warning!

The sections below contain spoilers! Open them if you don't mind spoilers!

To Be Improved

Control Optimization: The handling of puzzles, especially block-rotations, would benefit from a more intuitive setup using analog or D-pad controls.
Journal and Note Integration: For puzzles with clues on walls, adding these to the journal would avoid players needing to write down or screenshot solutions—particularly for codes like Chapter 3’s hexagon puzzle. It's not even that this is a challenging puzzle, it's just way too bad and time consuming. Just end up being a terrible experience.
Hexagon: There should be a notification hinting that you can use the left trigger on the Hexagon to input codes.
Hidden Objects Clarity in Chapter 3: Some hidden items could be highlighted to reduce ambiguity and unnecessary trial-and-error after a given time in chapter. Some items are so well hidden that the cursor may not show the hand when you hover through them quickly (bushes and metal bar are the main ones). This time limit function could apply to any chapter to make the game more accessible.
Puzzle Clarity in Chapter 3: This one is possibly a bug or omission, because of the way this was handled in other chapters. Basically, if you try the axe in the rock with yellow flint before scanning, it leads to nothing. It only says that you cannot do that. Just like the other chapters, there should be a hint saying that you need to scan the rock first to know whether it’s safe.
Navigation Streamlining: Introducing a more efficient quick-travel option for places that require frequent revisiting, such as in Chapter 3’s maze sections or Chapter 4’s floors, would alleviate the tedious back-and-forth travel times.
Alien in Chapter 4: Objects in the hand of the alien should have been handed automatically. They show the alien scene and then you must figure out that you have to go back to the alien, try to look down by pressing and dragging (not using the analog as the rest of the game does, so it’s a whole different mechanic), and then you basically have to take it away from the alien like a thief.
First Door in Chapter 4: After opening the door, going straight or clicking to enter it led to different paths, which makes no sense.
Greenhouse in Chapter 4: There are too many turns, so it’s easy to get lost or miss something. If you come from the right (elevator map), it’s not intuitive that going right again in the adjacent open area (tree) will lead to another section (vent). A map could have helped showing if there is an unvisited area in this place.
Pressure Valve On/Off in Chapter 4: Lower pressure valve should have colors and a sound effect to indicate whether it’s on or off. Not only this, but the pressure indicator on the Valve should go up. This coupled with the bug indicated below leads to a very frustrating experience.
Pressure Valve Positioning in Chapter 4: Upper pressure valve should change something (graphically or with a sound effect) to indicate that the positions we set actually did something. It just seems like nothing happened. This coupled with the bug indicated below leads to a very frustrating experience.
Alien Language in Chapter 5: There should be a translation for what the Alien said. I have read in the discussion thread that it is creole, which is a nice touch, but I would have liked to know what the alien was saying. Maybe this could be included in the extras. It’s not part of the current script available.
Alien Ending in Chapter 5: I have to say that the ending was way too frustrating. It makes no sense at all that the alien civilization so advanced would have made a portal to Earth, unless they were going to be living on Earth. I would suggest adding a final scene where someone in the gas station removes their mask and shows that they are aliens too.
Game+: It’s just way too frustrating to do everything again in such a time crunch just for one planet explosion scene and a couple of lines of how unstable the planet is. There should be a disclaimer to make it clear that it won’t add anything to the story. Or, if you want to make it a cool worthwhile experience, add another final scene in which the astronaut actually gets back to her own time on Earth and comes back as a hero.

Bugs

Skeleton Scanning Achievement Bug: This is a tough one to describe, but in my first playthrough I did scan all the skeletons and did not get the achievement. I have read that if you remove the piece of meat first in Chapter 3, then you don’t get the achievement even if you scan the skeleton after. I am assuming this is what happened to me. So, whatever you did last time, didn’t fix this issue. On my Game+ playthrough, I scanned before and after and got the achievement.
Action Order Bug 1 in Chapter 4: When trying to scare away the alien with the gas, removing the screws on the greenhouse’s red panel should technically have no impact on gas release, as it only shows the necessary valve positions to direct the gas to each floor. However, if you don’t go up to the greenhouse and unscrew the red panel, the gas won’t release. This is a bug.
Action Order Bug 2 in Chapter 4: There shouldn’t be a right order to set both valves (upper and lower) to release the gas and scare away the alien, yet there is! The player needs to set the upper valve (sliders) first and then set the lower valve. If the player tries to set the lower valve first and then adjusts the upper valve sliders, it will not work. This makes no sense, since the lower valve should already have released the gas and the player would only be redirecting it. This is another bug.

Conclusion

The Abandoned Planet is a visually captivating game with a unique blend of point-and-click adventure and first-person puzzle-solving. While the game successfully captures the intrigue and mystique of a long-forgotten alien world, it stumbles in places where the experience could be smoother, from some control issues to occasional pacing slowdowns. With its clever puzzles and atmospheric world, it’s an engaging title for fans of classic adventure games, particularly those with a soft spot for pixel art and 1990s-style storytelling. I have enjoyed my time!!