BROK the InvestiGator is a point-and-click beat 'em up indie game self-published and developed by independent French game studio COWCAT Games using GameMaker Studio 2. The game was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter. This game is a point and click adventure game which incorporates beat 'em up side-scrolling action and role-playing elements.
The game's prologue demo was released on December 2, 2020, via Steam, GOG.com and itch.io platforms. The game was released worldwide on August 26, 2022 at 6:55PM GMT+2 for Windows via Steam and GOG platforms, with an itch.io release on September 2, 2022. Linux and macOS versions were released on October 4, 2022. Home console versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, were released on March 1, 2023.
Plot
The game's premise takes place in a world that is set in a futuristic "light cyberpunk" era where anthropomorphic animals have replaced humans. Privileged citizens live under a dome protected from ambient pollution while all the other citizens suffer to make ends meet.
The main focus of the game is the titular character, Brok, a 35-year-old private detective alligator who is also a former championship boxer. He lives in a basement apartment with a cat named Graff, who is the 16-year-old teenage stepson of Brok's deceased wife Lia who passed away five years ago. As much as Brok could not exactly clarify her accident, events that have happened recently might reveal more information on a much more tragic result, and it might even be connected towards their existence. Brok and Graff now have to get out and endure against all the horrible danger that the corrupted world has created and must be willing to deal with their fates.
Gameplay
BROK the InvestiGator is a unique game which plays like a traditional classic point-and-click adventure game, while also combining elements from action side-scrolling beat 'em up and role-playing games, with the look and feel of a 1980s/early 1990's Saturday-morning cartoon. Players control the titular character Brok as well as Graff (once he joins your character in the game's progress), where they can be switched at anytime during gameplay. The entire game is also voice-acted from start to finish with over more than 23,000 lines of dialogue recorded.
When you first start the game, players will learn tutorials on how to use items as well as understanding how to switch between the two gameplay modes, such as Adventure Mode and Action Mode. Players must go around places talking to other non-playable characters, finding and combining clues, investigating scenarios around the environment and solve puzzles by either using thinking skills or by using their action wits. While exploring around, players can either move around and examine or search for things around them in Adventure Mode. You must also interrogate suspects with the clues and hints you have found and put them together and ask questions and find culprits (inspired by Ace Attorney and Sam & Max). When playing in Action Mode, players can jump and attack enemies or objects like in beat em' up games (like Final Fight or Streets of Rage 2). They must also be in Action Mode in order to bypass traps and avoid hazards by either jumping or running fast. When enemies and bosses come around, players will then be switched into the Action Mode phrase and they must then battle against them (the fight scenes can be skipped if the game is being played on easy mode). When they are defeated, players earn experience points. When enough is earned, they level up their strength like in role-playing games and they can choose one of three status to upgrade such as either their health points, their attack power or upgrade your special attack to take less time to cool down after use. Players also have access to an inventory where weapons and items can be used in combat, for puzzle-solving or for supportive aid.