Brok the Investigator is getting a Christmas-themed standalone release you can play now

• Brok the InvestiGator is getting a spin-off visual novel to mark the season
• This free-to-play, one-hour adventure sees you finding the true meaning of Christmas
• Just don't expect any beat 'em-up gameplay

Action-adventure game Brok the InvestiGator (no prizes for guessing what species he is) is set to receive a standalone spin-off visual novel. This free-to-play entry will serve as a prequel to the main release of Brok, and although it diverges from the typical gameplay, promises a heartwarming Christmas tale (tail?).

In Brok Natal Tail Christmas, you'll explore the story of Graff and Ott as they celebrate Natal Untail, a corrupted version of Christmas in their home of Atlasia. Fortunately, as you might expect they find true heartwarming Christmas fun even in spite of this, with a little help from Brok.

Again, this is not some sort of full-fledged spin-off, and you can expect only about an hour or so of gameplay from this Brok spin-off. However, it does tackle a whole new genre and also marks the debut of developer Cowcat's own Brokvn Engine.

In terms of a quick Christmas gift for fans of Brok, I'd certainly feel unfair to criticise the length of this new release, especially considering that it's free. And I do find it admirable that Cowcat has decided to tackle a whole new genre rather than just continue with the gameplay from the original.

So in terms of playing this, there's not really much to lose. I suppose the only reason you might not want to is if you're dead-set against playing visual novels; but if you're open to it and willing to give this new take a go, what's stopping you?

And if this has given you a taste for point-and-click or visual novels, why not dig into the spooktacular Darkside Detective and check out our review of this quirky, 90s-inspired mystery? Or just wrap up the year in a cosy way with the best mobile games of 2024 (so far)?