Thomas and Martha decide to move to Mjolkebo, a peaceful village in the countryside. Everything seems fine until one day when Thomas wakes up and makes a horrifying discovery - Martha is gone. Next of Kin is an emotional cinematic 2D game that follows Thomas's endeavours to find his lost wife, Martha...

You wake up on Christmas Day with huge gaps in your memory

Every now and then you hit upon an indie game that has all the hallmarks of a classic. Next of Kin is one such offering. It's inspired by classic adventure games with a mix of 16-bit RPG aesthetics.

Your move to Mjolkebo was an idyllic one. You and your wife have finally settled in a lovely rural village. But, after a few years of blissful life together, you wake up one morning to find her gone. There's blood on the floor of your house and no one knows where she's vanished to. To make matters worse, it's Christmas Day, and there are huge gaps in your memory.

You'll need to visit your neighbours, explore your house and surrounding area, as you try to get to the bottom of this unsettling mystery.

The game sees you wandering around your village in a quest to uncover the whereabouts of your missing wife. Find clues, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth about Martha's disappearance.

As you solve puzzles, you start to unlock pieces of memories

The puzzles aren't overly complicated and this is a game where you'll spend most of your time wandering around trying to work out what you need to do next. As one puzzle is solved, another appears and so you never feel over faced with the tasks to complete... not that they're difficult to begin with. As you solve pieces of the puzzle, you start to unlock pieces of memories. And when you complete a memory it's played to you, so you can start to work out the mystery that's been thrust upon you.

For the price it's well worth picking up. It might not be very long, but the emotional rewards are worth it.

8

Nick Smithson