Francium is a series of short adventure games featuring a small robot, Roboto, in a world where a megalomaniac king wants to be the last of humans. Each opus presents this original and wacky universe in a different way, both in an independent scenario and in a different graphic treatment. If some episodes follow one another, some others (like this one) can be enjoyed without having played the other games. Probably because this is an "origin" Francium that would serve as one of the first episodes to do if all the episodes were brought together.
Indeed, this Francium 0.5 is above all there to present some robots that the player will find in other episodes. The restricted places confine the hero to a landfill, for the sole purpose of being able to meet his creator, while a war rages. In this polluted environment where overproduction for the sole purpose of throwing away is the ultimate goal, humanity has little future, and Roboto will only meet robots in this adventure, whether they are prison guards, prisoners or simple robots abandoned in the dump.
This Francium is entirely in 3D, in a very successful graphic rendering. Colors, models, textures, lighting, ... the whole is neat, and helps to dive into the stifling atmosphere of this world in agony. The game is fluid, pleasant, and its gameplay is deeply intuitive (keyboard arrows to move Roboto, the mouse to interact on the elements and characters near the robot). Like any great Point & Click classic, this game offers an adventure focused on exploration, dialogues, collecting objects and using an inventory.
A few mini-games are offered, which varies the pleasures. As for the adventure, it is as always original, adorable and very interesting. Always logical and motivating, this game constantly makes you want to know more, and to advance in Roboto's quest. The integration of a game jam requirement (3 rules) is so successful that it seems impossible to design this game without it. And even if this game is the result of a game jam, it remains nonetheless a real little adventure game that is enjoyable for what it is. Here we see how much the developer knows what he is doing and how to do it best.
Remarkably, a French version is even implemented, which makes the game much more intuitive for French-speaking players. This game is therefore an excellent surprise, and offers high-quality entertainment that is worth a look. Any adventurer in need of a nice Point & Click will find in this game all the answers to their requirements. It is beautiful, original, accessible, varied, very well designed: we feel the love of things well done. Essential, therefore.
Clearly a lot of love has gone into this game and the whole series. I escaped the cell but didn't get any further. If it's possible to get past the next section, let me know and I hope I will go back and try again later. I wish you the best of luck with this series of games.
Thanks! Congrats for escaping the cell, it's not the easiest part! Yes unless there is an unknown bug, it should be possible to continue after you escaped the jail. Where are you stuck exactly? 1/ After going through the tunnel behind the metal plate, or 2/ did you open the door and could go back to the dump? - In the first case, you should be able to walk to a deadend and find a key item. Use it with another item (spoiler: the spoon), then use the resulting item in the cell again. - In the second case, talk to the agent who asks 3 things to let you pass. You need to buy plenty of things at the vending machine. If you don't have enough Coins, talk to Sonny who gives you a tip for a new minigame (with Phil again). Talk to Kikinou too who gives you Coins. Use the new items to repair the toy and to make a hat (wear it). Give a certain item to the Iron Giant and play with him. Give a certain item to Pim. When you have gathered 4 items that you can't use anywhere, put them to the recycle bin and obtain a complete access card. Hope that helps! Please let me know if you're still stuck!
Great atmosphere but I just could not for the life of me get past the spoon/screws - I found the paper and the 'green' clue but every variation I tried just didn't seem to work.
Thanks Ben! If you played the Jam release, unfortunately there was an issue and one of the hotspots wasn't working. I have fixed it yesterday in the new release. Hope it works! There might still be other issues like that, I just don't know. I couldn't test the game properly because I lost my time with itchio which wasn't working well on Sunday. I need to find a moment this week to play through the whole game and fix the last issues!
Comments
Francium is a series of short adventure games featuring a small robot, Roboto, in a world where a megalomaniac king wants to be the last of humans. Each opus presents this original and wacky universe in a different way, both in an independent scenario and in a different graphic treatment. If some episodes follow one another, some others (like this one) can be enjoyed without having played the other games. Probably because this is an "origin" Francium that would serve as one of the first episodes to do if all the episodes were brought together.
Indeed, this Francium 0.5 is above all there to present some robots that the player will find in other episodes. The restricted places confine the hero to a landfill, for the sole purpose of being able to meet his creator, while a war rages. In this polluted environment where overproduction for the sole purpose of throwing away is the ultimate goal, humanity has little future, and Roboto will only meet robots in this adventure, whether they are prison guards, prisoners or simple robots abandoned in the dump.
This Francium is entirely in 3D, in a very successful graphic rendering. Colors, models, textures, lighting, ... the whole is neat, and helps to dive into the stifling atmosphere of this world in agony. The game is fluid, pleasant, and its gameplay is deeply intuitive (keyboard arrows to move Roboto, the mouse to interact on the elements and characters near the robot). Like any great Point & Click classic, this game offers an adventure focused on exploration, dialogues, collecting objects and using an inventory.
A few mini-games are offered, which varies the pleasures. As for the adventure, it is as always original, adorable and very interesting. Always logical and motivating, this game constantly makes you want to know more, and to advance in Roboto's quest. The integration of a game jam requirement (3 rules) is so successful that it seems impossible to design this game without it. And even if this game is the result of a game jam, it remains nonetheless a real little adventure game that is enjoyable for what it is. Here we see how much the developer knows what he is doing and how to do it best.
Remarkably, a French version is even implemented, which makes the game much more intuitive for French-speaking players. This game is therefore an excellent surprise, and offers high-quality entertainment that is worth a look. Any adventurer in need of a nice Point & Click will find in this game all the answers to their requirements. It is beautiful, original, accessible, varied, very well designed: we feel the love of things well done. Essential, therefore.
Clearly a lot of love has gone into this game and the whole series. I escaped the cell but didn't get any further. If it's possible to get past the next section, let me know and I hope I will go back and try again later. I wish you the best of luck with this series of games.
Thanks! Congrats for escaping the cell, it's not the easiest part!
Yes unless there is an unknown bug, it should be possible to continue after you escaped the jail.
Where are you stuck exactly? 1/ After going through the tunnel behind the metal plate, or 2/ did you open the door and could go back to the dump?
- In the first case, you should be able to walk to a deadend and find a key item. Use it with another item (spoiler: the spoon), then use the resulting item in the cell again.
- In the second case, talk to the agent who asks 3 things to let you pass. You need to buy plenty of things at the vending machine. If you don't have enough Coins, talk to Sonny who gives you a tip for a new minigame (with Phil again). Talk to Kikinou too who gives you Coins. Use the new items to repair the toy and to make a hat (wear it). Give a certain item to the Iron Giant and play with him. Give a certain item to Pim. When you have gathered 4 items that you can't use anywhere, put them to the recycle bin and obtain a complete access card.
Hope that helps! Please let me know if you're still stuck!
Great atmosphere but I just could not for the life of me get past the spoon/screws - I found the paper and the 'green' clue but every variation I tried just didn't seem to work.
Thanks Ben! If you played the Jam release, unfortunately there was an issue and one of the hotspots wasn't working. I have fixed it yesterday in the new release. Hope it works! There might still be other issues like that, I just don't know. I couldn't test the game properly because I lost my time with itchio which wasn't working well on Sunday. I need to find a moment this week to play through the whole game and fix the last issues!