IGP’s Indie Stars of 2019: ‘Astrologaster’

Nyamnyams Astrologaster is a short narrative game that has you giving your Elizabethan contemporaries horrible advice.

Uh, I mean perform accurate astrological readings to definitely cure their ills and not make everything worse. Yes, that. It is also the funniest game I have played in years.

You play as Simon Forman, an actual astrologer, occultist, and herbalist active in London during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England. Astrologaster was directly inspired by the real Forman’s casebooks.

Now, Simon has a problem. He wants to attain a true medical licence, but in order to do so, he needs eight letters of recommendation from his clientele. His methods, however, aren’t exactly scientifically sound, using “medical astrology” as a means of deducing what ails his patients. If this mostly sounds like guesswork to you – well, it kind of is. But that’s the joke! Whether you cure a nervous hypochondriac from the dreaded man flu or help an unlucky widow murder several of her husbands, the feeling prevails that you actually have no idea what you are doing.

Astrologaster‘s narrative structure is also impressive. You treat independent cases that become all tangled up in each other later on. It’s an intricate and very silly web that somehow works and is mostly held together by some stellar voice acting and incredibly clever writing. The game’s music also deserves special mention. The short interlude songs that play whenever a character makes their entrance are performed by a choir, making for a delightful addition to a fun, ridiculous game.

Astrologaster is available now on the App Store and Steam.

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