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Sarawak

Sarawak is an interesting story that sells itself too short, with interesting gameplay and an intriguing premise but ultimately not enough exposition.
Sarawak Game Cover
67%Game Brain Score
story, music
gameplay, replayability
86% User Score Based on 22 reviews
Critic Score 78%Based on 3 reviews

Platforms

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Sarawak Game Cover

About

Sarawak is a single player puzzle game with a mystery theme. It was developed by Cowleyfornia Studios and was released on January 27, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

Literary mystery game set in Oxford and Borneo.

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Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
Sarawak screenshot
+13
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86%
Audience ScoreBased on 22 reviews
story14 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • Engaging and intriguing mystery story with a captivating narrative and well-developed protagonist.
  • Beautiful, minimalist, and stylized art direction that enhances the reading experience.
  • Simple, well-integrated puzzles that complement the story and maintain pacing without causing frustration.
  • Very short gameplay duration, with an ending that feels rushed and underdeveloped.
  • Limited impact of player choices leading to a mostly linear experience without meaningful consequences.
  • Minimal sound design and sparse music tracks, leading to a generally silent atmosphere that some find lacking.
  • story
    60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is an engaging, elegantly written mystery that unfolds linearly with little player impact on outcomes, resembling an interactive e-short story or pop-up book. While the narrative is captivating and accompanied by stylish, minimalistic art, it is brief and somewhat underdeveloped, with missed opportunities for deeper plot and character exploration. Overall, it provides a pleasant, easy-to-follow experience that is enjoyable but leaves players wanting more depth and variation.

    • “The story is captivating and eloquently written, the puzzles are organic and varied, and the art is minimalistic and stylish.”
    • “I found myself quickly invested in the protagonist’s quest to unravel a mystery that brings her from Oxford, England to Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia.”
    • “Players will dive into a murder mystery story as you try to prove your mother's innocence in a tragic event involving a professor at Oxford.”
    • “The story just kind of stops.”
    • “The ending is very underwhelming, as everything is explained directly to the main character at the end of the story, and the credits immediately begin rolling after a big decision in the epilogue.”
    • “The latter sadly has little impact on plot development or outcome, making Sarawak a rather linear experience overall.”
  • music
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is minimal and sporadic, often limited to key scenes or toggleable tracks, with some authentic regional pieces praised for their quality. While when present, the music fits well and helps set the mood, many players felt the overall lack of background music and environmental sounds weakened immersion and narrative impact.

    • “Whenever the music is present, it’s a pleasant track dependent on the situation (from jazz to Spanish guitar strumming), but I couldn’t help but wish for more.”
    • “Mystery narrative adventure + good art/music + interactive = you are quickly pulled into the story and taken by surprise.”
    • “Only key objects and events have sound cues, though you can find relaxing pieces of music in almost every chapter which are either in the background or are presented as toggleable items like radios.”
    • “There's only a few instances where you get actual music, but not where it mattered.”
    • “The other big complaint has to be the lack of music in this game.”
    • “There is so little music in this game, I actually stopped to check my audio several times to see if it was actually working (and it was).”
  • graphics
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in the game are widely praised for their elegant, minimalist, and stylish art style, featuring bold lines, vibrant colors, and a retro, vintage-inspired aesthetic that complements the narrative like a visual novel. The visuals are described as classy and atmospheric, enhancing the overall immersive and enjoyable experience. Many reviewers highlight the artwork as a standout feature, with some considering it a key reason to play the game.

    • “The accompanying artwork – with its strong lines, bold colours, and atmospheric shadows – gives this modern tale a classy, romantic feel.”
    • “While the story is immediately intriguing and the puzzles fun, the artwork is stunningly gorgeous and the game merits a playthrough just for that alone.”
    • “The game’s visuals reminded me of colorful fashion sketch catalogues and a mix of vintage cut-outs that leave a simple but memorable impression.”
    • “Mild catching story (a dime novel), mild interaction and elegant, minimal graphic.”
    • “Although the game is called Sarawak, most of the situations take place in the capital, Kuching, which is understandable, and yet there were no cat motifs or graphics used.”
    • “Sarawak has a unique graphic style.”
  • gameplay
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is minimal and light, focusing primarily on simple puzzles and object interaction reminiscent of hidden object games, with limited player involvement. While it supports the brisk pacing and neat storytelling, the short duration and straightforward mechanics may leave players wanting more depth and interaction. Overall, gameplay serves mainly to complement the visual novel-style narrative rather than provide a rich, interactive experience.

    • “Because of that, the light gameplay never affected the brisk pacing of the story.”
    • “I liked the mechanics of interacting with objects in the images to solve puzzles, reminiscent of hidden object style games.”
    • “As for the gameplay, there's very little interaction and even that's not done well enough.”
    • “Gameplay is minimal and puzzles are simple; you can tell the focus is on the unsurprising but neatly-told plot.”
    • “The ticket price is a bit high for the amount of gameplay, but it is still a well tied together story with a great art style.”
  • atmosphere
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is praised for its classy, romantic feel conveyed through strong artwork with bold colors and shadows, effectively capturing a charming, legendary mood. However, some feel it could be enhanced with more atmospheric sounds or music to deepen the experience.

    • “The accompanying artwork – with its strong lines, bold colours, and atmospheric shadows – gives this modern tale a classy, romantic feel.”
    • “It catches the atmosphere really wonderfully and feels also like a charming bow to a legend.”
  • emotional
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional moments in the story are impactful but rendered somewhat muted due to the lack of voice acting or soundtrack, leaving players to experience them primarily through silent visuals and mouse clicks.

    • “There are several truly emotional moments in the story, all conveyed silently but powerfully.”
    • “The game tells an emotional story, with the only sounds being the clicks of your mouse.”
    • “The emotional impact comes from the story itself, creating a deep connection without spoken words.”
  • replayability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers limited replayability, with few incentives to play beyond the initial experience.

    • “Not much replayability either.”
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78%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Sarawak is a puzzle game with mystery theme.

Sarawak is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

Sarawak was released on January 27, 2021.

Sarawak was developed by Cowleyfornia Studios.

Sarawak has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Sarawak for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Sarawak is a single player game.

Similar games include The Detail, The Monster Inside, Rainswept, One Night Stand, The Death of Erin Myers and others.