The next levels of Wogger are almost here (release date: December 1st). Wogger, for those of you who missed it this summer, is a cute red small alien, main character of a Point’n’Click adventure game developed by the German artist and designer Bernd Mattiebe from Stuttgart. The first two levels were released around mid-July: a lot of people enjoyed that game and then a lot complained that it what too short!

Well, the two levels released in July were just the two first of a series of 12, and what was supposed to be a short story is just the beginning of a complete journey: why did Wogger decide to leave his home and start exploring space? And what does he look for? So far, nobody knows, and I won’t spoil the surprise, but the answer lies somewhere in the next 10 levels to be released in coming days…

But first things first – You will be able to enjoy soon and for free the third and fourth levels of Wogger’s journey. The next eight levels will only be available for download at a price tag of $9.99 (USD) or 7.99€. For this price, you will receive a zip 8MB file including the 12 levels, a readme.txt with short instructions, a start-wogger.html and some additional files to let you play offline on your computer (PC and MAC). The game will also be available on CD, for 9.49€ + shipping costs (all prices have been confirmed at the time of writing).

When I first played the game last July, I was impressed by the surreal ambiance created by the author, so close from what Jakub Dvorsky did in his super famous Samorost series.

After chatting with Bernd last week, I had the opportunity this weekend to test a full beta version of Wogger, and what I saw was beyond my expectations! I spent several hours (expect an entire afternoon to finish the game) visiting this unique and wonderful world, with no dialogue, no inventory and just a basic goal: solve each new puzzle and progress through this incredible adventure.

With 10 all new enchanting levels and dozens of animated scenes, Bernd Mattiebe did a remarkable work: Wogger’s world is full of bizarre creatures and unusual shapes created using a collage technique from various nature pictures and videos. The puzzles in the game are nicely varied and imaginative: some of them consist of clicking an object to activate or a location to move. Some others will require to pickup an object and use it. A few of them will require a bit of timing or simply moving your pointer over a particular spot to perform a new action.

There are no dead-ends in the game, but several puzzles need a specific sequence of actions in a particular order to be solved. If you don’t succeed in your first attempt, don’t worry, the scene will reload and you’ll be able to try again, as many times as needed.

There are also a few simple mini-games in the commercial levels that add a nice touch and some variety to the gameplay. A level code system was also implemented to save your progress: you can check at any time the name of the current level and then resume playing at the beginning of this level at any time.

If I didn’t notice any bug while playing with this version of Wogger, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of music in the game; this was an intentional decision of the author, who only looked for “some natural or digital sounds to create a certain feeling”. Another downside could be that a few items are really hard to see, which can require frantic pixel hunting. That being said, Wogger usually looks in the direction where he wants your attention, so you should always keep an eye on him!

Overall, Wogger is a new exceptionally charming and imaginative adventure game, offering a highly immersive experience. Despite the fact that we focus on free games here at FreeGamesNews, it’s really difficult not to recommend the commercial version of Wogger to any Point’n’Click adventures fan. The world you will explore is so enchanting and the story behind the 8 commercial levels is so adorable that nobody will blame you if you give yourself an early present for Christmas.

Levels 1 to 4 are available for free here: have fun!

I got in touch with Bernd this weekend and asked him a few questions.

FreeGamesNews: Where did you get your inspiration to create Wogger?

Bernd: I love Nature. Nature is my best source of inspiration. You may want to talk about Samorost? I consider myself as an artist first and I’m not a gamer. I really like the Tomb Raider series, and I like Lara Croft as a character! Samorost is a great game: I played the first level and then I stopped. I never finished Samorost: I decided to create my own game instead! Playing Samorost was simply the starting point for Wogger’s development.

FreeGamesNews: How long did it take to develop the two first levels of Wogger?

Bernd: I would say around two months. At first, I made the game only for myself, as an artwork; so I didn’t really keep track of how much time I spent on them. Creating a game like Wogger is not only about development: you have to find fresh ideas, take a lot of pictures, videos, create animations, etc.

FreeGamesNews: And what about the next ten levels?

Bernd: About four months, full time! Just sleeping and working: everything was about Wogger, Wogger and Wogger!

FreeGamesNews: Any plans for the future?

Bernd: Well, if Wogger is successful enough, I have some great ideas for a sequel, may be a non-linear adventure: it would add a significant replay-value to the game, but it’s a lot of work!

Disclaimer: Bernd was kind enough to advertise for free in our new “Coming Soon/Just Released” section, offering a link back to FreeGamesNews on his own site. FreeGamesNews does not get any commission for promoting games. We only review games we like!