Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

In need of a good interactive story? Sarawak is out now

By - | Views: 15,194

Love to curl up with a good book? Sarawak from Cowleyfornia Studios LLP is out now and it looks fantastic.

Text-based adventures might not be the most flashy genre but, depending on where you look, they're very much alive and well with plenty releasing all the time. Sarawak is a delightful piece of interactive fiction, so you're playing out a mystery game set in Oxford and Borneo.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

"Through dialogue choices, you interact with a whimsical cast of characters who help or hinder your progress. The more you unravel, the more conflicted you become as you start to question who's lying and who's telling the truth."

The developer mentioned it will appeal to people who enjoyed the likes of 80 Days, A Case of Distrust, LucasArts adventure games or Agatha Christie novels. While a text-based novel it's not all reading though, as it's very much like a visual novel with you picking answers and it also blends in some creative puzzle solving with discovering secrets, opening locks and doors, hacking into police equipment and more so it plays like a mix of things.

Visually, Sarawak is actually quite wonderful with it's soft pastel colouring that looks like it was all done on paper. The simple styling helpfully enables your mind to wander off a bit into the setting, just like you actually would while reading a good real-paper novel. What I especially liked about it is how each scene was setup on the technical side, as it just keeps on scrolling down giving you a chance to go back up to any point in the current scene you need to. This allowed me to really get into it, and for people whose English reading perhaps isn't the best - it would allow more to enjoy it I think.

Sarawak is a great experience to sit back with a coffee as you get pulled into the mystery surrounding the story.

You can buy Sarawak on Steam and itch.io.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
8 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
3 comments

Eike Feb 3, 2021
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Didn't start on my Debian stable because GCC version define was one subversion too high.
Quoting: EikeDidn't start on my Debian stable because GCC version define was one subversion too high.

If you bought through Steam you can go to the game properties, and under the compatibility tab you can choose the Steam Linux Runtime. That provides a standard set of libraries that Sarawak is definitely tested against, so there shouldn't be glibc issues.
Eike Feb 9, 2021
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: cowleyforniastudios
Quoting: EikeDidn't start on my Debian stable because GCC version define was one subversion too high.

If you bought through Steam you can go to the game properties, and under the compatibility tab you can choose the Steam Linux Runtime. That provides a standard set of libraries that Sarawak is definitely tested against, so there shouldn't be glibc issues.

I tried, but to no avail...

How are this runtime and the environment variables USE_HOST_LIB_FORGOTTHENAME and such are working together BTW?
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.