Galilee Bones and the Juggernaut of Jordan

Galilee Bones and the Juggernaut of Jordan is Indiana Jones with the serial numbers filed off but goddamn I am here for that. Even if we just admit it's pulp serial fiction of the archaeological persuasion, it still checks most of the boxes and it enjoys doing so.

Being IF, this is a little more quiet and puzzle-focussed with sparse locations with mild reuse. It's more Fate of Atlantis than The Last Crusade, to mix my media. Periodic flashbacks hint at a more action-filled backstory but in the game itself you really only hit one guy. You do kill another by letting him chase you into misadventure and leave another to a grim fate. But it's okay, they are Nazis, so my only disappointment was that you couldn't bop more of them. I felt like the Big Bad probably deserved his comeuppance via the main Macguffin, but that might be too close to Indiana Jones and invoke the wrath of Lucasfilm.

There's a decent variety of puzzles and a solid hint system. I had to keep prodding the hints to get the first pipe puzzle to work. The related translation puzzle threw me for a loop when I didn't read it carefully enough, so Galilee spent quite a while smoking in every room of the ruins that he could find. While there were a few mildly rough edges, the hints worked well.

I was hoping for a bit more in the puzzles. There's reuse of items, which is good, but a reuse of a basic puzzle type, which is less so. You solve them differently, and the second one is technically to set up the finale, but it was still odd to have very similar puzzles so close together. I expected more translation and herbology.

The writing is decent and there's a good bit of banter between Bones and the other characters. I swear there's a little Monty Python reference, but I can't be sure. I enjoyed that in the cinematic parts you were prompted to do actions unusual for normal IF ("You can tell Standartenführer Lockig you're looking for a hotel or ask if we've met before."), but let you play out the scene more fully.

I think it's a solid entry for the comp, although I wished for more. More puzzles, more locations and more dynamics in the setting. I enjoyed the flashbacks to other adventures, but it'd be nice to have been able to play them directly. I'd definitely wait for the next serial!