SkyBorg: Into the Vortex

Skyborg: Into the Vortex takes place in 2025 and Earth is low on food due to overpopulation. Dr. Barton, a scientist, has created a pocket universe to solve this problem, but something has gone wrong and he is missing. The player takes control over a cyborg who has to enter the universe to find out what is wrong.

The core of the game is a typical rendered adventure in the style of Myst: The player moves through the environment screen by screen and solves both inventory based (collecting and using items) and logic puzzles. However, there is also combat: the cyborg is sometimes attacked by sentinels which have to be defeated by using programs (create a shield for one of the six damage types) and weapons. In addition to shields, there are also programs which enhance weapon strength or act as security keys. Taking damage through combat and environmental hazards deplete the energy bar and when it runs out, it is game over. Is is also drained by using programs and weapons.

There are other persons to be found within the pocket universe. Unfortunately they are trapped in a stasis field which means the cyborg can't directly interact with them. Clicking on them brings up a card which has a picture and a descriptive text, similar to a trading card game. The pictures have hidden hot-spots which either hold additional information (e.g. puzzle hints) or can be dragged into the cyborg's inventory as items. There are many texts to read, either as instant messages to the cyborg or as documents found in the game.