I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #34, and today’s game is “Decay – Part 1”.
Decay is an amazing and moody point-and-click adventure with great console controls (speed up the cursor with the right trigger, slow it down with the left). Imagine if the mechanics of Myst were combined with the atmosphere of Silent Hill and you have some idea of where this game is trying to do.
It’s episodic, and a bonus is that the first three episodes are already out which suggests this may not end up the way some other episodic series have (Half Life 2: Episode 3, anyone?). They’ve made good use of the episodic nature of Decay too by selling the first installment for a mere 80 Microsoft Points, with parts 2 and 3 costing 240 each.
Between the ubiquitous free demo, and an inexpensive first installment, this is one game that any adventure game fan would be foolish to pass up. Puzzle fans will find things to like here, as Decay is in the classic vein of puzzle adventures (find an item, combine it with others, find out how to use them to solve puzzles). For those who want something a little darker (or a little different) than the Monkey Island XBLA offerings, this is an unmissable choice.
For a second opinion, check out Kobun’s review of Decay – Part 1.
Tried this already? Vote below. About to download it? Please come back and vote after trying it.
Know someone else who would want to vote? Click “Share This” above and invite them to.
Writings of Mass Deduction 
Decay – Part 3 was released about two weeks ago, which made it a great time to go back and review Decay – Part 1. This is one game where you’ll definitely want to play them in order.