Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bonetown

EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access
by Anthony Maynard
previewed on PC
Shrouded in mystery
Willy Morgan is a third-person point-and-click adventure game that pulls inspiration from the classics such as Monkey Island. The game combines the traditional point-and-click with a unique 3D art style. We take on the role of Willy Morgan, son of famous archaeologist Henry Morgan, whose disappearance 10 years ago still remains a mystery. On the anniversary of the disappearance, Willy receives a letter from his father, stating that his mission didn't go according to plan. Henry tells Willy that he is to travel to an old inn located at Bone Town but to trust no one. After the short introduction to the story, the game opens up for exploration.
Willy's first task is to repair his bike before heading to Bone Town to discover what happened to his father. However, things aren't that simple. Players need to scour the home completing puzzles and collecting items to restore the bicycle. In true point-and-click fashion, there are a handful of items to click on within each room. Most items in the game are used for a specific purpose and can be combined with others already in your inventory. Helping players along is a circular button in the top left of the screen when clicked on, shows the points of interest within a room. After each item serves its purpose Willy helpfully drops it from his inventory. Some of the puzzles are more difficult than others, some require a little thinking and ingenuity. I'll admit I was stumped by a few for a long time but felt satisfied after progressing.
A pirate's life
Willy Morgan and The Curse of Bone Town is heavily set in a pirate-themed world with a modern twist. Almost every location and citizen has ties to the pirate life. Bone Town is littered with pirate-themed signage and callbacks to legendary pirates themselves. Exploring each location is a non-linear experience, gamers are free to move without constraint. With that said, some areas are off-limits until a puzzle is solved or a specific NPC is talked to. While talking to the denizens of the town traditional dialogue choices pop on the screen for you to choose. There is a variety of places to investigate and interesting people to talk to within Bone Town. Also important to note is the original soundtrack on display that helps bring the pirate vibe and more intense moments to life.
Minor technical issues
In my 4 hour preview of the game I discovered two technical issues in the game. Firstly, during the entirety of Willy's time exploring his home, he has an actual voiceover. Once arriving in Bone Town, he no longer has that voice over and all the dialogue becomes just text to read. I don't know if that was intended by the developers or just a bug in my game. However, it is odd that for one "level" he is voiced while the rest of the game he is not. With that said, in my opinion, it doesn't ruin the game by any means.
Lastly, during a challenge at a restaurant which is initiated by Willy sitting at a table and calling over the host, if you fast travel using the map in your inventory, before getting up from the table Willy is stuck in the sitting animation. You are free to move around each location like normal, Willy just appears like hes sitting down. The only way I fixed this was by returning to the restaurant and letting the dialogue play out before fast traveling. Once again more of a funny little bug than a game-breaking one, but important to note regardless.
Final Thoughts
Willy Morgan is a fun point-and-click adventure full of mystery and challenging puzzles all based around a pirate theme. With plenty of locations to explore and people to talk to. The game clearly pulls inspiration from the classics like Monkey Island and also gives me Nancy Drew vibes. I love a good mystery game and this is definitely one I recommend.

Recommend
There are no guarantees - but we'd bet our own money on this one. If you're going to take a chance with yours, odds are good this one will deliver.