At the Yorkshire Gaming Festival 2024 in Bradford, I discovered a delightful looking indie PC game called It’s Grim Up North developed by Bad Reaction Games. I was drawn in by the pixel artwork of quirky characters, including shapeshifting aliens, set to the backdrop of a quaint Yorkshire village. After giving it a go on the day, I wanted to continue this story of Terry, the semi-retired police inspector, seeking out the above mentioned aliens among a cast of quirky characters. Since then, I have played through game’s first chapter and I’m eager to share my thoughts with you as I await successive chapters to this tale.
It’s Grim Up North: Chapter 1 is currently available on Steam. There is currently a special half price offer available until July 11th, allowing you to buy the game for £3.49 rather than the full £6.99. Speaking to the design team, the aim is to release Chapter 2 as a free update to the game towards the end of 2024.
Story – Intergalactic Shapeshifters vs. Yorkshire Grit!
For most of the game, you’ll be playing as the above mentioned Terry, investigating mysterious disappearances in his sleepy Yorkshire village. As you’ve probably gathered by now, it soon comes to light that these disappearances are down to aliens that have abducted and replaced the villagers. As Terry, it falls on you to find clues and expose these shapeshifting villains.
Any one of these patrons could be an alien. Time to do some detective work!
A big part of what made the story so enjoyable for me was the colorful cast of characters. Terry is wonderfully deadpan and world weary in his interactions with colleagues, friends and local nuisances. He clearly knows many of the villagers well and there is lots of juicy subtext in the dialogue that gives a strong sense of character. The banter between characters is something that many players should be able to relate to, especially those from rural Yorkshire.
I also enjoyed how self-aware It’s Grim Up North is about its indie status. Terry is very aware that he is a character in a point and click adventure game and will lovingly poke fun at the customs of the genre and the game itself. There are also plenty of pop culture easter eggs from the likes referencing gigantic franchises like Star Wars to beloved sitcoms like Open All Hours. As well as that there are plenty of hidden achievements and mysteries for the more investigatory gamers out there!
Gameplay – Point & Click Puzzling With Turn Based Alien Battles
As the story is fairly straightforward and linear, the game’s structure largely involves completing puzzles and battling aliens to advance the narrative.
Completing puzzles involves the usual point and click formula of interacting with the environment and characters to find clues. Here, you can interact through examining, talking, using and picking things up. It’s Grim Up North also has a feature that lets you combine objects together to create new things, allowing you to jury rig creative solutions to puzzles.
Overall, I really enjoyed the logic of the game. As you investigate, you build up an idea of what you need to, say, expose an imposter or enter a dance competition. Whilst the answers aren’t always obvious, there is often that one detail that when you discover, everything else falls into place.
Whilst the game does a good job of guiding you subtly towards what to focus your investigation on, there were a few times where the answer felt too illusive. But using the ‘H’ button to highlight interactive features is a good way of seeing if you’ve missed anything.
When you expose an alien, you also get to fight it in turn-based combat. Whilst the system isn’t going to win any awards, it is quite intuitive and offers enough complexity to be engaging. You can broadly choose between quick attacks, heavy attacks, healing and buffs to temporarily increase your stats.
Ol’ Terry will show these aliens what for!
There is also something inherently entertaining about watching an elderly Yorkshireman throwing down with these monstrous aliens. Seeing Terry’s flaming upper cut followed by him necking a mug of tea never gets old!
Graphics & Sound – Classic Pixel Look With Coronation Street Style Brass Band
As previously stated, the look of the game was the first thing that drew me in. The pixel graphics were strongly reminiscent of 90s point and click adventure games like Full Throttle and The Legend of Monkey Island.
The charmingly retro look of It’s Grim Up North also proved surprisingly scenic, allowing this indie game to bring to life sights you’d expect in a quiet Yorkshire village. Taking Terry down the high street with the backdrop of the rolling hills made me feel like I was walking through the Calder Valley on a beautiful day.
There may be aliens taking over the village, but you’ve got to admire the view once in a while.
Despite having that classic pixel look, the movements are fluid and there are plenty of eye catching animations. This includes aliens trying to possess villagers, costume changes and the satisfying idle animations.
It’s Grim Up North also came with a terrific original soundtrack with brass band numbers reminiscent of the likes of Coronation Street. The music ranges from ambient village music to mysterious danger afoot music to raucous battle music. If you listen carefully, you might even notice the odd audio easter egg the designers have snuck in for you!
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- They say this shop’s open all day!
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- Barry’s in trouble! What will you do to help?
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- Welcome to GardenCon. I think someone didn’t read the brief.
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- The local gangs are very territorial. How will you get by them?
It’s Grim Up North was reviewed on PC with a key provided by Bad Reaction Gaming.
