When it comes to modern-day point-and-click adventures, there are a few names that stand out as leaders of the genre, and one of those names is DuckMadeOfWood. He’s the creator of D3AD HAND, among other titles, and now he’s coming back with a new adventure: Escape from 8-Bit High. 

There’s no release date for his next title just yet, although the demo is set to drop at some point in September 2025. There is something to look forward to before the full game releases: A chance to play the prequel, Day of the Jellyfish. I’ve been lucky enough to play through it early, and it’s like a pixel adventure version of 50s B-Movies.

Tentacles and taunts

Day of the Jellyfish is a short point-and-click adventure that introduces the central characters who will eventually go on to feature in Escape from 8-Bit High. It takes about 30-40 minutes to complete with 100% achievements, and you’ll find yourself facing up against some jellyfish who probably wouldn’t be able to fumble their way out of a paper bag if you armed them with a pair of scissors. 

There’s heaps of humor in this short gem of a point-and-click. Not only are the fully voiced dialogue lines guaranteed to make you smile at least once during your playthrough, but you’re also going to find some noticeable references to pop culture as you work your way through the puzzle-filled romp. 

You get to play as two characters, Duck and Hank, which is a familiar mechanic to anyone who has played D3AD HAND: R3D STAR. As members of Blueberry Finn, all you really want to do is play your concert in Cabot Cove and go home, but you’ll need to take down the jellyfish overlord before that can happen, and of course that’s not a straightforward process.

Each character has their own puzzles to solve, and some puzzles need to be solved as one character before the other can progress. Nothing is too challenging, although you will need to think outside the box in some moments, especially when the jellyfish enemies are being less than friendly. 

A stellar introduction

Although it will likely not be necessary to play Day of the Jellyfish before you play Escape from 8-Bit High, I’d definitely recommend that you do take the plunge – literally, in Hank’s case. Day of the Jellyfish will be absolutely free to download and play once it releases, so you’ve got nothing to lose by adding it to your library, and with it being pretty short, you don’t have to dedicate an entire day or more to complete the tale. 

Plus, I’m fairly confident, knowing Duck’s style of development, that references will be made back to Day of the Jellyfish in 8-Bit High, and don’t you want to be one of those players who can point at the screen and proudly proclaim, “hey! I understand that reference!” 

Even if you don’t intend to buy and play 8-Bit High when it releases, this is a free introduction chapter to a much larger game, so you’ve got no excuses not to hop on board once it’s available to play. Who knows? Maybe you’ll change your mind about 8-Bit High once you’ve met the characters and been given a taste of the weirdness that’s set to trouble Duck, Hank, and Alex. 

Day of the Jellyfish is set to drop in September 2025, around the same time as the demo for Escape from 8-Bit High. They go hand in hand, so you might as well wishlist them both and jump in once they release!