J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars
J.U.L.I.A.: Among the Stars is an innovative narrative driven adventure game which is being developed due to overwhelming support from a successful crowdfunding campaign.
The story centers on Rachel Manners, a 35 year old astrobiologist. She is a member of an elite group of scientists, chosen to embark on one of the most critical missions ever conceived on Earth. Now Rachel is alone, orbiting an unknown planet. Her only companions are J.U.L.I.A., the space probe’s artificial intelligence and Mobot, a huge reconnaissance robot. Together, this unlikely trio will explore the mysteries of this solar system. But are they prepared for what they will find?
story
After countless years of careful space observation, the enormous telescope Chandra 17 suddenly locates a solar system quite similar to our own. As all earthly observatories turned their attention towards this new discovery, a signal of artificial origin is detected from deep within the system.
Reaction was immediate and a mission plan was conceived. No expense was spared in the construction of a massive space probe. It was designed and equipped to be ideally suited for the ultimate challenge: to meet and study extraterrestrial sentient life-forms. Equal care was taken with the crew. Only the most prominent scientists were selected and trained to ideally represent planet Earth. Everything was perfectly planned and success was certain. Yet somehow, everything has gone terribly wrong…
Now, imagine being jolted awake by an emergency alarm. As your surroundings come into focus, you realize you were deep in cryogenic sleep on a vast space probe. But why you are there is an elusive memory. Disoriented, you rush to the control room searching for answers. Once there you learn from the ship’s AI that not only have you been asleep for decades, but you are also the last surviving member of the probe’s crew.
To make matters worse, the probe is severely damaged by a disastrous impact with a passing meteoroid swarm. First, you must make repairs. Not only is your own survival at stake, but you need to find out what happened to the crew and why you alone survived.
Are You Prepared to
- step into the spacesuit of Rachel Manners and find out why she was the sole survivor of this ill-fated expedition?
- utilize an ingenious MOBOT – a mobile robot designed for planetary exploration to investigate this solar system and all its wonders?
- solve the mystery of the mission’s failure and locate the missing crew?
- travel to six unique planets and uncover their secrets?
- solve puzzles, gather clues and communicate with the most temperamental artificial intelligence ever designed?
- Are you prepared for… J.U.L.I.A.
Game Discussion
Steam User 6
a really good and practically unknown sci-fi point & click, lots of cool places to visit and explore. I played the original version when it first came out, but the revamped one available here is a lot better in every way. still far from perfect, missing some settings, only 2 resolution options, some bugs, etc. but very much worth playing.
the dlc is also highly recommended if you liked the cool wiring puzzles in the main game, as there are more of them there, not just a pdf and the soundtrack. it could've and should've been a standalone release.
Steam User 2
Great point & click adventure game with interesting mechanics and good range of puzzles. The story is tense, the graphics are great for its time. Sound and spoken voices creating a good atmosphere.
Steam User 1
What a ride.
This is one of those unknown hidden games. It starts In media res, there's a fire on your ship and you need to puzzle your way out of it. The plot then starts, you are trapped in space with J.U.L.I.A, a sentient AI and Mobot, a cool robotic buddy who is your physical presence in every investigation you do accross the galaxy. Your main goal is to understand what happened to your crew.
The game is a mix between classic Myst, observation games like the Sherlock Holmes Series, and minigames like Hidden Object games. It works perfectly. The atmosphere and wonders of each planet are the high note. More planets become available as you discover new clues.
This game, is technically an enhanced remaster, the previous game, while similar was not as polished. Most of the game content is very enjoyable with some notable exceptions like a translation puzzle which I found lacking directions on the rules.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed at first with the amount of descriptions and technical sci fi jargon, but the game does a really good job of explaining most of what's going on. Better yet, already examined hotspots are removed once they serve no purpose.
The voice acting is quite good, much better than most indie endeavours. This is a great game for adventure and puzzle lovers.
Steam User 1
It's a sort of science-fiction storybook with limited animation and graphics reminiscent of Syberia, the story is engaging, and the voices are good, particularly the robot, who is charming.
Still, I have so many reservations about giving this game a thumb's up, all of them having to do with how laborious and time-consuming, without being gratifying, the puzzles generally are. It's like having to walk on a treadmill for what feels like forever in order to get the story to advance.
It's entirely understandable -- this was put together by two people, and the puzzle mechanisms that were available and manageable by such a small team are necessarily limited -- but there could perhaps have been choices made to do one thing well rather than many things in often infuriating ways.
Steam User 0
The game had a really good story and puzzles. It liked how it made me break out the pen and paper to write notes to keep track of the story. While this is strange for games today, I found it to be a good break from the norm and harken back to when I can notes and personal game strategies for each game I played. The game looks older, but it still plays like a new point and click adventure, and was well worth the price. The only slight negative is that the game is only in Full HD and there is a lot of screen tearing during the cut scenes, but this doesn't take away from the story.
Steam User 0
It's a lovely little game, full of delightful puzzles.
None of the puzzle types overstay their welcome, although I would have loved to see more of my favorite puzzles.
But that really means they did it perfectly.
The game is not particularly long, but the graphical quality, the tight script and the lack of any needless filler, makes it a game I go back to every few years.
Steam User 0
Sci-fi mystery adventure that requires you to travel to several different plants in a solar system. Really enjoyed the story line in this game, it offers a mystery and a few twists that keep you wanting to know more. Puzzles are not that difficult, actually the hardest part is determining what kind of puzzle it is as the instructions offered are not that helpful.