Premise: Sorry if this first DevLog might seem a bit long, but I wanted to give a broad overview of what MIGHTY 1990 is all about. There's a lot to cover—its mechanics, inspirations, and why I made certain design choices. In the next DevLogs, I’ll focus on specific aspects in more detail and share how things are shaping up week by week as development progresses.
Back to 1990… To Save the Future?
Adventure games have come a long way. From the text-based parser games of the early days to the golden era of point-and-click classics, the genre has seen constant evolution.
But what if adventure games never abandoned text-based interaction? What if there was a missing link between the old-school text adventures and the point-and-click revolution?
That’s the thought that led me to start MIGHTY 1990.
It’s a game that feels like it was made in 1990—a mix of text-based adventures and point-and-click mechanics, infused with RPG elements—but streamlined in a way that might feel unconventional.
The upper part of the screen presents charming visuals, funny animations, and quirky characters, just like classic point-and-click adventures. But instead of clicking around, the lower part of the screen is purely text-driven, allowing you to interact at lightning speed with just a keyboard.
It’s a bold mix of old and new. Will it work? We’ll see.
No More Mouse Hunting – A Faster, Smoother Adventure?
One of the biggest complaints I noticed in modern point-and-click games—including in my own past projects like ENCODYA—is pixel hunting.
Sure, some players love searching for hidden items, but many end up just pressing the "highlight hotspots" button all the time. Others randomly click on everything in the scene, hoping to stumble upon the right object.
At that point, I had to ask myself:
If players are already trying to bypass pixel hunting… why not remove it altogether?
This is where MIGHTY 1990 changes things. Instead of forcing players to search for clickable objects, the game immediately shows everything interactable, mapped to keyboard shortcuts.
But here’s the real question:
Will this make the game feel too easy?
Will it remove the sense of exploration?
Or will it free players from tedious searching and let them focus more on puzzles, story, and humor?
I don’t have all the answers yet. I just know that in testing, it feels good.
How It Works
Every interactable object is numbered → No more guessing what can be clicked.
Actions are mapped to letters →
Press L + 2 to "Look at Poster"
Press G + 1 to "Go to the Hallway"
Press T + 3 to "Talk to the Boombox" (which makes no sense, but hey, it’s an adventure game!).
The goal is to streamline interaction while keeping the puzzle-solving intact.
A World That Feels Like 1990 (Literally)
Visually, MIGHTY 1990 is crafted in a rigid pixel-art resolution, sticking to a monochromatic 16-color palette—something you’d expect from a DOS game running on a 386 or 486 PC.
At first, I worried that this style would feel too restrictive. But instead, it led to some creative workarounds—like exaggerating animations and focusing on expressive, toon-style character designs.
The world of MIGHTY 1990 may be low-resolution, but it’s full of movement, humor, and charm.
Or at least, that’s the goal.
RPG Mechanics? In an Adventure Game?
This is another choice that might backfire or turn out great.
MIGHTY 1990 introduces RPG mechanics—you pick a class, level up skills, and roll dice to determine the success of certain actions.
A high Charisma stat might let you convince an NPC to help you…
But if you fail the dice roll, you’ll have to find an alternative puzzle solution.
This makes each playthrough different based on your class and skills, leading to multiple endings.
I love this idea in theory—it adds unpredictability to adventure game puzzles. But will players get frustrated when a dice roll blocks their progress? Or will they embrace the chaos and find another way forward?
I’m hoping it’s the latter.
The Story: The Future Begins in 1990
So, why 1990?
It’s not just nostalgia—it’s the turning point for the entire game’s story (at least according to our crazy vision!).
The world today is in crisis. The first domino piece that led to catastrophe fell in 1990. Now, you’ve been sent back in time to fix history and stop the chain of events that led to today’s collapse.
You’ll meet hilarious characters, solve absurd puzzles, and make choices that will change the future.
It’s all meant to be fun, ridiculous, and self-aware.
What Do You Think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Do you like the idea of an ultra-fast, keyboard-driven adventure game?
Would you miss pixel hunting and mouse-based exploration, or does this feel like a natural evolution?
What’s your opinion on RPG mechanics in adventure games—good idea or unnecessary?
Let me know in the comments! I’ll be reading all your feedback.
And if you haven’t already, wishlist MIGHTY 1990 on Steam to stay updated on future devlogs and new gameplay reveals.
Nicola