Oliver & Company

Someone always has to make things harder than necessary. Oliver & Company is a movie tie-in game from the late eighties, and movie tie-ins meant one thing — cutscenes in terrible quality and playing in rare gaps between them. Here, at least, you don't look like you're on dialysis.

It's an adventure with arcade elements based on the 1988 animated film. You play as Oliver or someone from that homeless dog gang and wander the streets of New York. The goal is typical — solve the plot, collect items, chat with other characters. The environment is classic point-and-click keyboard stuff, where you move across the screen and activate elements that the game allows you to.

What makes playing interesting? Mainly that the game doesn't bore you with tedious dialogue or hold your hand. Tasks aren't clearly described, you have to orient yourself in the environment on your own. That also means you can easily get stuck and search for ages where to go next. The graphics are monochromatic, often jarringly sharp, but there's a charm to it — it's not just a common pixel salad, you can really feel someone put effort into the details.

Memory of it doesn't last long mainly because competition soon brought games with better navigation and snappier pacing. But when you launch it in your browser now, you'll be surprised how little you sometimes need for a game to work. There's no music chasing you, no random jumpers — just silence, footsteps, and the occasional sound. This feels strange, almost unsettling.

Today you'll play it mainly out of curiosity and nostalgia for times when nothing had to be fun for everyone at once. You'll fumble around in it without rush, and that's where its strength lies.