Trapped in a dead-end job, Bertram Fiddle is in a funk. A predicklement, if you will. He’s stuck flogging Dulsworth Soap Company’s shoddy wares and longs for adventure; the type Bertrand embarked upon for episode one, A Dreadly Business.
Like its predecessor, this is an adventure game with all the wit and silliness of the classics – think Monkey Island or Day Of The Tentacle – but with beautiful hand-drawn art, charming voice acting and a particularly British sense of humour.
We meet Bertram dozing at his desk, having dropped off in between cold-calling to sell his employer’s soapy goods to unsuspecting victims. All of them are drawn from the Benedict Cumberbatch School of Improbable British Names: Agatha Muttonslugs, Alfred Grumpston, Peedle Quinge and more.
Of course, adventure soon comes calling. Dulsworth’s mother wants to get to the bottom of why her son – the factory owner and Bertram’s employer – is acting so peculiarly. As she couldn’t get hold of "the esteemed Mr Holmes", she gives Bertram a try, and off we go. Getting around in the game is as easy as tapping where you want to go, and puzzles are solved by combing the scenery for clues and items from which you deduce a solution. Just like Mr Holmes might’ve done.
Indie developer Rumpus’ terrific talent for unifying an offbeat art style, humour and puzzles has never been more evident than in this second episode of Bertram Fiddle's ongoing adventures. Predicklements don't come any more British.