Shipwrecked 64

Shipwrecked 64 presents itself as a recovered late-1990s game commissioned by the (at-the-time) beloved Broadside Animation Studio and developed by the relatively unknown Cogware Games. The original cartridge was supposedly only available from August 13th through August 17th, 1997, received almost no promotion, and was pulled from store shelves. This Steam release, the marketing claims, is the closest one can get to playing the original — preserved by the SWRC (Shipwrecked Recovery Crew) with help from two of the original developers.

The in-fiction premise is the 1990s family-friendly version. Bucky the Beaver and his friends have crashed on the mysterious island of Nulla Terra after a routine fishing trip. His friends have been apprehended by a pack of wolves for disturbing the peace, and Bucky has to work through a puzzle-based adventure, helping his friends work off the damages, fix the boat, and get back home.

The actual game is what people on the internet call an ARG — alternate reality game — and the description is partially fiction. Shipwrecked 64 portrays itself as an authentic product, but Cogware Games never existed and the cartridge was never real. Some scenes are graphic and violent. Cracking the case requires out-of-the-box thinking and travelling outside of the game for answers. Forum posts, playing in calls with others, taking notes — the game is intended as a community effort.

Two modes ship in the package. 2023 mode is the fixed, safer version. 1997 mode is the unstable and disturbing version that supposedly was pulled from store shelves. Multiple layers, endings, areas, and a Controlled Decay system that breaks levels depending on player actions all extend the experience. For anyone who liked Petscop, the Suzanne Andrews tapes, or the broader genre of cursed-media ARG horror, Shipwrecked 64 sits firmly in that lineage with its own specific identity.