Hamlet (video game)

Last updated
Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement
HamletGame.jpg
Developer(s) Denis Galanin
Publisher(s)
Engine Wintermute Engine
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android
ReleaseWindows
  • WW: 8 April 2010
iOS
  • WW: 20 January 2011
Android
  • WW: 1 April 2012
Genre(s) Adventure, puzzle
Mode(s)

Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement (also known as Hamlet on Android and Hamlet! on iOS) is an indie adventure game based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet . It was developed and published by indie game developer Denis Galanin.

Contents

Plot

A scientist travels back in time and gets mixed up with characters from William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. Guide the man from the future as he embarks on a mission to save Hamlet's girlfriend, Ophelia, from the clutches of the evil Claudius. Solve a variety of point-and-click puzzles and advance from one scene to the next as you defeat bosses and overcome mental obstacles.

The game begins by setting up a version of Hamlet rather different from the original, in which Hamlet (a swashbuckling hero) returns to find Claudius and Polonius locking up Ophelia in attempts to marry Ophelia to Claudius. Just as Hamlet is about to run in to save her, a man from the future falls out of the sky in his time machine and lands on his head, incapacitating him. The man then goes to save Ophelia.

He first enters Polonius' house. Polonius turns out to be a shriveled, alien-like creature obsessed with chemistry and the periodic table of the elements. The time traveler kills Polonius, but in the process drops Ophelia into a well. When he dives down to rescue her, both are swallowed by a giant fish. With the help of an elderly man living in the fish's stomach, the two escape and surface in the moat outside of Claudius' castle. Claudius turns out to be a wannabe rock god. The player ruins his guitar solo (Claudius discards the guitar, which hits the old man from the fish and causes him to drown) and then causes a potion he is brewing to explode, draining most of his health. Before Claudius can be finished, however, he calls the guard, who lock Ophelia back up and put the time traveler on a ship to be thrown overboard while out to sea. The time traveler escapes confinement and, by manipulating a giant octopus who attacks the ship, defeats its captains, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He then pilots the ship back to land.

The time traveler sneaks back into Elsinore Castle. However, he encounters Laertes, a giant who Claudius sent to kill the traveler while he fled with Ophelia. The traveler manages to grab on to the tail of Claudius' fleeing horse. Arriving at Claudius' secret lair, the traveler opens numerous doors to get inside but a booby trap kills him . However, he is able to resurrect from the afterlife and enters the lair. Turning Claudius' death machine against him, the traveler rescues Ophelia, reunites her with a heavily bandaged Hamlet, and flies off in his time machine. The ending teases a sequel based on Romeo and Juliet.

Gameplay

The player interacts with the world with simple point and click interface directing a small hero. The goal of Hamlet is to solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers. The puzzles are sequentially linked forming an adventure story. The game contains no inventory or dialogue, and the solving of puzzles mainly consists of clicking onscreen elements in the correct order. Solving a puzzle will immediately transport the player character to the next screen.

Development

The Microsoft Windows version of Hamlet was developed over a period of eight months, by Denis Galanin, also known as mif2000.

Reception

Hamlet has received mixed to positive reviews. Critics generally recommended the game to fans of point-and-click adventure games.

The game won the award for the Best iOS Game from The Mac Life Awards at Macworld Expo 2011. [6] Google Play Store included Hamlet on the list of Games We Love: Best Games of 2012. [7] Split Sider included the game on the list of The 10 Funniest Video Games of 2010 [8] and Jay is Games included Hamlet on the list of Best Downloadable Adventure Games of 2010. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Hamlet</i> Tragedy by William Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

<i>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead</i> 1966 play by Tom Stoppard

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the main setting is Denmark.

<i>Hamlet</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Laurence Olivier

Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed. Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English.

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Hamlet is a 1996 epic historical drama film and an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Prince Hamlet. The film also features Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius, and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio. Other cast members include Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, and Ken Dodd.

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Hamlet, also known as Hamlet 2000, is a 2000 American drama film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, set in contemporary New York City, and based on the Shakespeare play of the same name. Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet as a film student, Kyle MacLachlan co-stars as Uncle Claudius, with Diane Venora as Gertrude, Liev Schreiber as Laertes, Julia Stiles as Ophelia, Steve Zahn as Rosencrantz, Bill Murray as Polonius, and Sam Shepard as Hamlet's father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polonius</span> Character in Hamlet

Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of the play, Polonius is described by William Hazlitt as a "sincere" father, but also "a busy-body, [who] is accordingly officious, garrulous, and impertinent". In Act II, Hamlet refers to Polonius as a "tedious old fool" and taunts him as a latter day "Jephtha".

Laertes (<i>Hamlet</i>) Character in Hamlet

Laertes is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. In the final scene, he mortally stabs Hamlet with a poison-tipped sword to avenge the deaths of his father and sister, for which he blamed Hamlet. While dying of the same poison, he implicates King Claudius.

<i>Beyond Zork</i> 1987 video game

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<i>Hamlet: The Drama of Vengeance</i> 1921 film

Hamlet, or Hamlet: The Drama of Vengeance, is a 1921 German film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Hamlet starring and produced by Danish silent film actress Asta Nielsen. It was directed by Svend Gade and Heinz Schall. The film was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Hamlet</span> Character in Hamlet

Prince Hamlet is the title character and protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet (1599–1601). He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius, and son of King Hamlet, the previous King of Denmark. At the beginning of the play, he is conflicted whether, and how, to avenge the murder of his father, and struggles with his own sanity along the way. By the end of the tragedy, Hamlet has caused the deaths of Polonius, Laertes, Claudius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two acquaintances of his from childhood. He is also indirectly involved in the deaths of his love Ophelia (drowning) and of his mother Gertrude.

Cultural references to <i>Hamlet</i> Review of the topic

Numerous cultural references to Hamlet reflect the continued influence of this play. Hamlet is one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, topping the list at the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1879, as of 2004.

<i>Hamlet</i> (Thomas) 1868 opera by Ambroise Thomas

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What follows is an overview of the main characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, followed by a list and summary of the minor characters from the play. Three different early versions of the play survive: known as the First Quarto ("Q1"), Second Quarto ("Q2"), and First Folio ("F1"), each has lines—and even scenes—missing in the others, and some character names vary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophelia</span> Character in Shakespeares drama Hamlet

Ophelia is a character in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in a state of madness that ultimately leads to her drowning.

<i>To Be or Not to Be</i> (book) Choose your own adventure book by Ryan North

To Be or Not to Be: A Chooseable-Path Adventure, also referred to as To Be or Not to Be: That Is the Adventure, is a 2013 novel by Ryan North, retelling the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet in a choose your own adventure format and mostly contemporary language. The initial run of the book was crowd funded through Kickstarter and published by charitable "uncorporation" Breadpig. It was eventually followed by two sequels, also by North, Romeo and/or Juliet and William Shakespeare Punches a Friggin' Shark and/or Other Stories.

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Ophelia is a 2018 historical romantic drama film directed by Claire McCarthy and written by Semi Chellas about the character of the same name from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Based on the novel by Lisa Klein, the film follows the story of Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective. It stars Daisy Ridley in the title role, alongside Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton and Devon Terrell. The dialogue is in modern English.

<i>The Franz Kafka Videogame</i> 2017 indie adventure game

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<i>Elsinore</i> (video game) 2019 adventure game

Elsinore is a 2019 point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Golden Glitch for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The game follows the character of Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Elsinore, Ophelia has a vision of the deaths of everyone in Elsinore Castle and relives the same four days again and again as she works to prevent the tragedy that will fall over everyone.

Denis Galanin is an independent game developer and children's picture book author. He is best known for the creation of several award-winning art games such as Hamlet and The Franz Kafka Videogame.

References

  1. "Hamlet, or the last game without MMORPG features, shaders and product placement for PC". GameRankings . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  2. "Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement HD for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  3. Kristan Reed (2010-04-09). "Review". eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  4. Hatfield, Daemon (2010-04-08). "Review: ign.com". Pc.ign.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  5. "Review". pocketgamer.co.uk. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  6. "MacLife Awards 2011". Macworld Expo 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  7. "Games We Love: Best Games of 2012". Archived from the original on 2012-12-30. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  8. "10 funniest video games of 2010". splitsider.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  9. "Best downloadable adventure games of 2010". jayisgames.com. Retrieved 2010-12-30.