14 DAY TRIAL // Frank unscrews the cover of the roof drain and then uses a plunger to get rid of all the gunk that prevents water from flowing. The job is easy, requiring just a few moves from the player, but it gives him a sense of accomplishment. Back in his apartment, he can cross another superintendent task from this notebook, take another look through his apartment and go to sleep.
This is when Drake walks up to the building, commenting on the graffiti on the wall, thinking about missing a shift at her own job. Moving in with a new person is never easy, especially when the two people involved have such different schedules and life philosophies.
These two strangers live in Oriole City, communicate mostly using sticky notes, and will have to build up trust as they deal with a destabilizing set of events. They might never meet but players will have to understand the world around them and their internal universes to reveal the truth.
Frank and Drake is developed by Appnormals Team, with publishing from Chorus Worldwide Games. I played a preview on the PC. The game will also be offered on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older consoles from Microsoft and Sony. The title is set to launch later in the year and offers a unique take on the narrative-driven adventure genre.
Frank is the first character players will get to know. As the caretaker of an apartment building, he needs to get through a list of daily tasks while also working on his own chores and projects. He seems isolated from other people and his journal notes suggest that he is worried about losing contact with reality. He also loves his disabled dog.
Drake has a sunlight allergy and works in a bar, night shifts only. She’s the more sarcastic of the two, determined to keep herself safe and more in tune with the weirdness of the city around her. The pair does not directly interact but they need to communicate once their fates become connected. Both characters have extensive internal monologues, commenting on the spaces they move through and using journals to offer more context.
The mechanics are two of a classic adventure: click on a space or item, find ways to interact with it, and engage with some light puzzles. There are many choices, some of them small, that will determine how the story progresses and which ending the characters move toward.
It only takes a few minutes with Frank and Drake to appreciate the depth of their characterization. I hope that the puzzles and interactions are good enough to keep adventure game fans engaged with the title’s narrative.
Frank and Drake is beautiful, using a rotoscoped approach for its characters and items that communicate the dreamlike nature of their lives and the emotions that often mark their actions. There are a ton of small touches that reveal more about their world, with clearly marked puzzles and interactions.
The sound design is also very focused on the two main characters. There’s no voice acting but players will appreciate how the music shifts to enhance moments and to underline the weirdness of the city they live in.
Conclusion
The title’s core mystery is compelling enough and the developers promise that the different endings and multiple perspectives on events make it worth playing through the story more than once. Frank and Drake shows how the adventure game genre can evolve by focusing on characters and emotions.
A preview key was provided by the publisher
