''Astrologaster'' is a comedy narrative adventure

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by Nyamyam. It was released for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

on 2 May 2019, for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

on 9 May 2019, and for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

on 18 February 2021. The game centres around the historical 16th-century physician and astrologer Simon Forman and the characters he encounters, who demand diagnoses, treatments, and sometimes to be read fortunes written in the stars.

Gameplay

The player controls Simon Forman ( Dave Jones), a real-life astrologer, occultist, and herbalist active in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during the reigns of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

of England. After examining the skies for hints about patients' personal lives, the player can suggest a treatment or course of action for them. The game was inspired by Forman's casebooks. A number of patients are based on real historical figures including Emilia Lanier (Katherine Rodden), Robert Devereux ( Rich Keeble),

Thomas Blague Thomas Blague (or Blage) (c.1545–1611) was an English churchman and author. He was the dean of Rochester beginning in 1592. Life He matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge in 1568. He is believed to have graduated B.A and was B.D. from Ox ...

(

Richard Reed Richard John Reed, (born 13 February 1973) is a British businessman, entrepreneur and public speaker. He is the co-founder of Innocent Drinks (founded in 1999 ), an international company producing fresh fruit smoothies and vegetable pots sol ...

) and Alice Blague ( Natalie Winter).

Development

The game was developed by Nyamyam after creative director Jennifer Schneidereit saw

Lauren Kassell Lauren Kassell (born 30 July 1970) is Professor of History of Science and Medicine at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Since September 2021, she is on leave from Cambridge to serve as the Professor in Histor ...

present her research on Simon Forman's casebooks at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Inspired by the wealth of character and story material, and with the help of Kassel's research team, Nyamyam researched Forman's life and original patient records for inspiration for the game's characters and stories.

Reception

The game was released for

on 2 May 2019, for

and

on 9 May 2019, and for

on 18 February 2021. According to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the PC version received mixed or average reviews while the iOS version received generally favourable reviews from critics. ''Astrologaster'' was featured on ''

The Gadget Show ''The Gadget Show'' (currently known as ''The Gadget Show: Better Tech, Better Life'') is a British television series which focuses on consumer technology. The show, which is broadcast on Channel 5, is currently presented by Ortis Deley, Geor ...

'' and appeared on a number of "best of" lists for video games in 2019. ''Astrologaster'' was nominated for "Excellence in Audio" at the 22nd Annual

IGF Awards The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers ...

, and for "Best Music for an Indie Game", "Best Music in a Casual Game", and "Best Original Choral Composition" at the 18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards. In 2023 ''Astrologaster'' was featured in the British Library Digital Storytelling Exhibit, during which a Q&A was held with Schneidereit and Kassell alongside performances of songs from the game's soundtrack by a live vocal quartet. Astrologastar exhibit at the British Library 2023

Astrologastar exhibit at the British Library 2023

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 9689688, Astrologaster 2019 video games Adventure games Video games developed in the United Kingdom IOS games MacOS games Video games set in London Video games set in the 17th century Windows games