Platform: Microsoft Windows
Initial release date: February 6, 2024
Developer: Mango Protocol
Genres: Indie game, Adventure
Publisher: Iceberg Interactive
What better way to start the year than by playing an adventure game on a toy that looks like the distant relative of Sackboy? Even while CLeM first seems more bizarre than spooky, it manages to defy assumptions about both the point-and-click genre and a common horror cliché. The toddler is far more unsettling in this game than her plaything.
The title character, the nameless teddy-thing, is always there, even if she is rarely seen, giving you commands to carry out activities on her behalf. They manifest as qualities like “beauty,” “determination,” and “loyalty,” each of which is symbolized by a different creature that Clem wishes you to bring to her. For example, determination is symbolized by a snail that you have to pick up from under a bird’s nose—er, beak. If you’re intelligent, you’ll spot a spider scuttling around the small house you’ll be spending most of your time investigating and try to outsmart it. You just have to gather a portion of these before the game ends, although there are plenty of them described in the book that serves as your inventory and logbook.
Though there aren’t many places, each one feels different.
The following attribute and creature that you fulfill and give to Clem opens another area of the house, usually by the use of a new mystical device or tool. A teleport device, acquired very early on, serves as a way to relocate to fixed spots to save padding back and forth and as a puzzle solver. A magnifying glass is used to look for clues in paintings. I had no idea that I would enjoy a point-and-click Metroidvania (or, as the developers put it, “puzzlevania”), but quick travel is a godsend to people who have short attention spans or deadlines to meet.
Ah, the time-tested “sort the bottles” riddle
Not that the genre’s mainstays aren’t present. The items required to catch every bug will rapidly fill your inventory, but not too much. You will need to mix some of them and separate some of them. Everything is controlled with a few button presses and an easy-to-use interface. If you make a mistake, there are no long asides saying “that won’t work,” just a quick buzz. There are enough parts falling into your bag to keep you confused, but not so many that you can’t handle with a quick glance around you and a little reason.
This cat is furious.
Most of the problems are enjoyable to solve as well. With each new gadget you acquire, you unlock a new aspect of the game, like a matching-symbol game or a mysterious master key that you must align to unlock locked cabinets and chests. It gets a little repetitive after the fourth iteration, but at one point you’ll shrink down and navigate a series of gated sections, each with a slightly different twist. This is the only situation where less would have been more. Near the end, in the shape of a safe, was the most clever brainteaser. To solve it, proper lateral thinking was required, but the “aha!The moment was immensely fulfilling. But as far as I could tell, this was a unique instance of a problem that wasn’t marked with any kind of hint, so it can irritate players who aren’t as patient as others.
There are alternative vacuum cleaners available.
Another game where writing things down could be useful is CLeM. Most of the puzzles may be solved by consulting your notebook, which becomes full of random pieces of paper, drawings, and tips. However, there are instances when using pen and paper actively will speed up the process of finding the answer. A good illustration of this would be attempting to open a clock.
It should only take you two to three hours to finish CLeM. It offers some really good brainteasers, and the pace is just fast enough to keep you interested. It may even be expanded in a future version with additional puzzles based on creatures you don’t end up acquiring from the catalogue, if that’s what the creator would like to do. The voice acting is minimal but passably well, the controls are smooth, and the soundtrack is appropriately spooky. Regarding the plot, I won’t give anything away here, but even after realizing what was going on an hour in, I was still taken aback by the ending—of which there are two possible outcomes—for all the right reasons.
For that one, you’re probably going to have to open the Vanish.
After watching a demo of CLeM at AdventureX, I decided to play it for the first time, and as the credits rolled, I felt compelled to check out more of Mango Protocol’s past work. Although they’ve successfully carved out a niche for themselves, dark adventure games are still a genre all their own, and CLeM has me eagerly anticipating their next dark story.
Review Overview
Gameplay – 75%
Story – 78%
Aesthetics – 80%
Content – 72%
Accessibility – 75%
Value – 74%
Overall Rating – 75%
Good
SUMMARY: To make up for its small size, CLeM offers a brief but fantastic point-and-click experience with some really clever puzzles and a variety of gameplay options.