Loco Motive

Loco Motive is a point & click adventure game inspired by Murder on the Orient Express, a crime novel by Agatha Christie. It was developed by Robust Games, an independent studio, and its prototype was created during the AdvXJam 2020 game jam.

Plot

Loco Motive is set in the 1930s, aboard the exclusive Reuss Express train. When wealthy Lady Unterwald is murdered on the eve of an important speech, three characters are suspected of the crime - lawyer Arthur Ackerman, novelist Herman Merman, who wants to become a detective, and Diana Osterhagen, who works as a spy for Her Majesty the Queen. The three protagonists have no choice but to conduct an investigation that will clear their names and lead to the discovery of the killer's identity. Although it all sounds very serious, the story is kept in the vein of a slapstick comedy.

Game mechanics

In Loco Motive we watch the action from the side. During the game we have an opportunity to take the role of each of the three characters, whose paths start to cross with time. In order to bring the investigation to a happy end, we have to conduct numerous conversations with the remaining passengers and solve numerous puzzles. Puzzles are mainly about finding items and using them in a specific way.

An original hint system has been implemented in the game. If we have no idea how to push the action further, we can use the built-in hotline which is a source of useful tips. What's interesting, we can control the characters in two ways - directly or with the help of classic point & click interface.

Technical aspects

Loco Motive has colorful graphics made in pixel art technique. In the game we can listen to the soundtrack composed by Paul Zimmerman.

Last updated on 10 February 2024