Future Past: Old Skies

Time travel is just a job in this animated sci-fi adventure.

Jan 22, 2025

‣ Old Skies
From: Wadjet Eye Games
Platforms: PC
Release: To be announced
Steam Page • Demo Video • Developer Site

You can’t time travel and not expect to get your hands dirty.

What if you could travel back in time? What if you could personally witness a moment in history or go to a time and place that means a lot to you personally? Good news! The ChronoZen agency offers trips to yesterday for the discerning time traveller (who can afford the ticket), escorted by a friendly time agent.

Fia Quinn is one of those time agents, and she must keep her clients safe and make sure they follow the rules. As long as nothing goes wrong, it'll be a cakewalk. But this is time travel, so of course things go wrong in the thrilling point-and-click adventure Old Skies.

In the demo, Fia's mission is to babysit a renowned scientist who wants to visit a diner he frequented when he was a young college student. She has constant contact with her handler, Nozzo, who sits in her present (the future), appearing as a hologram to helping her solve any unexpected issues.

Nozzo has access to databases with historical information, so he can help Fia. But not all answers are on a computer, and Fia must explore the scenes around her, finding objects and talking to characters to figure things out. For the demo's first obstacle, a padlock, she needs to remove the rust to see its serial number, which she does with a rag she found on the street dabbed in lubricant from the diner's leaking air conditioner. Soon, she can take her client to his nostalgic rendezvous.

But it doesn't take long for things to go sideways. The client gives her the slip and disappears into the city, removing his protective quantum bracelet (not a good sign). Now, Fia must track him down and hope he doesn't do something that will irrevocably change the timeline.

Old Skies' demo features a complete story, during which you find out what your client is up to and bring that saga to a conclusion. It's one of seven client stories in the game, which takes place during different eras in New York City (this helps keep the time-travel storyline from becoming too convoluted). While each story has its own arc, they also tie together into a larger plot.

Genre veterans Wadjet Eye Games are putting their accumulated experience and love for this style of adventure game on display. This game looks great, with beautiful location art and professionally-voiced characters detailed in a graphic novel quality.

I could say that for most Wadjet Eye games, but even by that bar, Old Skies promises a lush blend of story, art, and puzzles (though I do hope they fix the hand animations, which feel like placeholders). It’s clear from the demo that the writing takes advantage of time travelling’s moral ambiguities—you can’t time travel and not expect to get your hands dirty.

Old Skies sticks to many of the genre's proven tropes, but it also has fresh ideas. It's possible for Fia to die, though the time travelling allows players to try again. The interaction between Fia and her handler provides novel ways to figure out some of the puzzles, and while it doesn't impact the game mechanics, I love how the location selection screen features Fia walking down a shop-lined city street.

📽 Demo Snapshot: What are you up to, Lisa?

There’s a slow-burn vibe to Old Skies. It feels almost like a modern noir tale, especially when the soundtrack starts channelling soothing jazz vibes. But there’s also a strong current of science fiction that I expect gets even more interesting as you visit different eras.

I’m looking forward to exploring diverse and grounded stories laced with time travel’s knack for turning reality on its head. The full game will span 200 years of history, from the late 1800s to the near future (and perhaps controversially, the morning of September 11). Old Skies has a lot in store for us.