Where to get it

2016 · Wadjet Eye Games · Adventure · Indie

Shardlight

A post-apocalyptic adventure game from the publisher that brought you Primordia, Gemini Rue and Technobabylon! A young woman stricken with a deadly plague searches for a cure in a hostile world.

Released: 8 March 2016
Platforms: Linux Windows macOS
Genres: Adventure Indie Point-and-click adventure Post-apocalyptic Role-playing
Developers: Wadjet Eye Games
Publishers: Wadjet Eye Games
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Science fiction Survival
Engine: Adventure Game Studio
Country: United States
Languages: English
Time to beat: 7hmain story8hcompletionist

About

Shardlight is an adventure game developed by Francisco Gonzalez and Ben Chandler and published by Wadjet Eye Games for the PC Windows in 2016.

›Story

The world ended on the day the bombs fell. Since then, it’s always been like this: disease, hunger, death. The ruling Aristocrats — a faceless oligarchy that controls all resources — have unchallenged authority. There’s never enough food, water, or vaccine to go around.

The rich receive regular doses of vaccinations in exchange for their unconditional government support. The poor live in fear, superstition, and squalor until they die.

Amy Wellard, a young woman reluctantly working for the government to qualify for the vaccine lottery, believes there’s a cure — and she’s going to find it. Even if it costs her her life.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Shardlight is a graphic adventure game, where the player controls a character to explore the environment and interact with people and objects as to solve puzzles. When in dialogue with another character, a portrait of them appears in the corner of the screen and the player can often decide what the protagonist will say. The responses and actions from other characters can change based on what the player chooses, and near the end of the game the dialogue options determine which one of the three endings will play.

Story

Shardlight is set in November in a post-apocalyptic city, 20 years after World War III. The world is left devastated and the sky has turned brown. Little shards of uranium glass are spread everywhere and emit a glowing green light; the main source of artificial light in the city. Furthermore, a deadly disease costs the lives of many: Green Lung.

There is no permanent cure for Green Lung, only a temporary vaccine that has to be renewed on a regular basis to be effective and that only the rich can afford. In a lottery, poor people have the chance to win the vaccine. The city is ruled by Aristocrats, a faceless oligarchy that controls all resources and have unchallenged authority.

Reception

Shardlight received "generally favorable reviews" from video game critics according to Metacritic, translating to a weighted score of 75/100 based on 26 reviews. Kyle LeClair from Hardcore Gamer gave 3 out of 5 stars, saying: "A lack of originality and some storytelling flaws hurt it a little, but the end result still has enough visual flair and enjoyable bits of narrative to easily earn a recommendation." Aaron Riccio from Slant Magazine gave 1.5 out of 5 stars and criticized the game's puzzles and pacing, saying: "Shardlight, then, is a mere fragment of the game it could've been, as there's nothing holding it together."