For instance, an old projector will hold the answers to some alien machinery a sticker with a name of a US state, when combined with some number plates stuck on a wall in another location, will open a door. You will need to read every book, all journals, every little piece of paper you find, because the answers will lie in everything around you. You have to look at every object pick it up, twist it around, and look in every crevice. To solve any puzzle – and this method applies to much of the game – you just have to do some research. You will be given tasks by the residents of the town, but you won’t find any markers or directional arrows in order to help you complete them. Throughout the game, you come across certain areas that have locked doors, and the area is closed off so you can’t progress any further. It is they who provide you clues on what to do next and how to proceed, because it’s all about solving puzzles.

There are a couple of residents of the town that you encounter including the mayor, an engineer and a scientist who are all presented in glorious FMV. The whole thing initially delivers access to quite a large area, and it’s up to you to find the secrets to open even more of the world, allowing progress through the game.

There is no combat to be had either, but you can run and you can also operate some pieces of machinery, even a train cart at one point. You don’t collect objects in an inventory or use things like in any normal point and click game, but rather you will click on objects, pull levers and open doors. You play through Obduction in the first person, moving about the world freely. The writing and world-building are frankly excellent, with complicated and unique pieces of storytelling that combine scientific ideas with complete and utter fantasy, cleverly and entertainingly immersing you throughout. As you explore the new world you find out that this Earth is part of four worlds, and it’s up to you to go out, seek answers and find your way home. You are then transported to a strange alien landscape – a world called Hunrath – along with half the Arizonian town. You start the game in a small town in Arizona, suddenly spotting blue lights in the sky as a narrator explains what is happening as the world is changed. Obduction first appeared on PC as a VR experience, but unlike many that make the move it works brilliantly as a first-person adventure.

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