Overview
80 Days is an interactive fiction adventure game developed by inkle for iOS. The narrative is a retelling and reinterpretation of Around the World in 80 Days, the 1873 novel by Jules Verne. Players assume the role of Jean Passepartout, valet to Phileas Fogg, and are tasked with navigating and managing the globe trotting trip as well as Mr. Fogg's well being. If the pair returns to London within 80 days the wager is won but the game does not end prematurely if the trip takes longer. The voyage is highly replayable with stories and routes shaped by player choice, circumstance, money management and special events from city to city.
Gameplay
Most journeys start with a trip from London to ParisEach game of 80 Days begins with the duo departing London for Paris with £4000 and a selection of starting items gathered from Fogg's apartment. From there the game branches off to 144 cities for players to potentially uncover, explore, trade, rest and chart a path forward. Major cities contain banks for wiring money at the expense of time, markets where useful goods can be purchased or sold and a hotel for spending the night. Cities can also be explored, triggering story passages that may potentially unlock new items and information. Each action must take place during designated hours and takes a set amount of time to complete.
New routes and locations are added to the world map by way of purchasable timetables, or discovered in dialogue with fellow travelers, locals and characters met along the way. Travel between locations is facilitated by traditional methods as well as fantastical constructs for the era like airships, submersives and automatons. Along with choice of vessel the player must also consider cost, date and departure time, suitcase capacity and net effect on Phileas' health when choosing a destination. During travel, time will advance and the player will be given opportunities to seek out new information, read the news or tend to Mr. Fogg. Reputation and personal character traits can be gained or lost depending on how dialogue trees are approached, with choices that allow the player to shape Passepartout's personality, approach to problem solving and perception of the world around him.
Historical Context
The progress of concurrent players is surfaced when viewing the world map.The game places a thematic focus on the promise and danger of new technologies at the dawn of the Industrial era and incorporates real world and fictional scenarios throughout. There are multiple mentions of a global Artificer's Guild that produces mechanical wonders which the player can choose to become involved with or not. Many cultural and historical touchstones of the time are also incorporated into the narrative such as the Franco-Prussian War, the Orient Express, high seas piracy, gender roles, classism, colonialism and post-Civil War American Reconstruction.
System Requirements (PC)
Minimum
- OS : Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor : 2 GHz processor with SSE2 instruction set support
- Memory : 2 GB RAM
- Graphics : Compatible with Shader Model 3.0 and DirectX 9.0c
- Hard Drive : 2 GB available space
Recommended
- OS : Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor : 4 GHz with SSE2 instruction set support
- Memory : 4 GB RAM
- Graphics : Intel Iris 6100 equivalent or better compatible with DirectX 9.0c
- Hard Drive : 2 GB RAM
System Requirements (Mac)
Minimum
- OS : OS X 10.7 or newer
- Processor : 2 GHz with SSE2 instruction set support
- Memory : 2 GB RAM
- Graphics : Compatible with Shader Model 3.0 and DirectX 9.0c
- Hard Drive : 2 GB available space
Recommended
- OS : OS X 10.7 or newer
- Processor : 4 GHz with SSE2 instruction set support
- Memory : 4 GB RAM
- Graphics : Intel Iris 6100 equivalent or better compatible with DirectX 9.0c
- Hard Drive : 2 GB available space
Availability
80 Days can be purchased from GOG, Steam, Humble Bundle, and GreenManGaming.
External Links
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