This is where Kathy Rain surprised me a little. The game becomes as much about exploring Kathy and the things that made her such a closed individual, as it does about the deep secrets of her hometown. We begin with the mysterious death of Kathy’s grandfather, which prompts both the return to her town of birth as well as a quest to uncover its secrets. In Kathy Rain we find ourselves thrust into the angsty life of Kathy, a ‘strong-willed’, cigarette smoking, motorcycle riding ‘badass’. I’ll begin with story and setting, those two factors being ever the main tent pole of this style of game. Kathy Rain is not without its flaws, but it largely falls on the side of the good when it comes to chucking itself on the expanding pile. Some rely utterly and completely on that nostalgia to see them through but fortunately there are plenty of examples that plug for the retro-adventure rehash being a genre in and of itself.

There is certainly an ever growing list of indie developers plying their trade by adding to the plethora of nostalgia-inducing retro point and clicks. Short, sweet and dripping with a dark nineties mystique, Kathy Rain is all about harking back to those point and click adventure games of old. And that’s exactly the sort of thing we need more of. Along with making you think about what you’re doing, this is a story that will really make you think. It stretches you in the right directions, tickling your grey matter in ways that other experiences don’t. All in all this is the sort of game that’s great to spend a few hours with.

Kathy rain steam download