Puzzles mixed with turn-based combat for those itching for a modern point-and-click video game. Sunday Gold is a must try.

This February 15, I finally finished playing Sunday Gold and it scratched a long-time itch of mine for point-and-click games.

For starters, let’s get you all caught up with what Sunday Gold is. Sunday Gold is a point-and-click adventure and turn-based game published by Team 17, the same publishers of Overcooked, Golf With Your Friends, and Worms.

Personally, I have played quite a few of their games such as The Survivalists and The Escapists but, I did not know they made these games prior to playing Sunday Gold.

There are only a handful of things that made Sunday Gold great, but they were good enough to make it stand out among Steam’s list of puzzle games.

Let’s go down a few:

Painterly and Comic Art Style

What first grabbed my sight was Sunday Gold’s painterly art style which is similar to that of Disco Elysium.

Aside from that, character interactions switch from normal text-based conversations to comic panel transitions.

The art style of the game effectively captured a balance between beauty and grimness, perfectly reflecting the overall tone of the game.

Unconventional Party Members

Sunday Gold features the main trio Frank, Sally, and Gavin who each have their unique personalities and roles within the group.

Frank is the most dexterous of the group, capable of picking locks, evading enemies better than Sally and Gavin, and buffing them up offensively.

Sally is both the Tank and Healer of the group, capable of moving heavy objects while supporting the team defensively.

Gavin is the techy nerd who, much to everyone’s surprise, is actually the best at dealing physical damage with his heavy weapon while disabling enemy cyborgs and security.

These three do not represent the typical “tank, healer, and damage dealer” setup of most games with a turn-based party combat system, which is a needed breath of fresh air for the genre.

Superb Voice Acting

There is more to Frank, Sally, and Gavin than their combat personalities, their place in the story is heavily rooted in Sunday Gold’s dark setting and their voice acting perfectly expresses their thoughts.

Frank’s somewhat gravelly and annoyed manner of speaking perfectly reflects his cynical nature, while Sally speaks straightforwardly and mildly crassly, with a hint of kindheartedness towards Gavin. Speaking of Gavin, he is an anxiety-ridden nerd who is capable of immense violence if his paranoia is left unchecked.

The voice acting for each character is delivered with great effort and without a single word out of place.

The attention to detail in the voice acting makes the game’s characters feel more like real people with distinct personalities and traits in the world of Sunday Gold.

Grim and Intriguing Storyline

Other than Frank, Sally, and Gavin’s dark backstories, even the villains have their own interesting backstories.

There is Ruth, Hogan, Sunday Gold, and even the minor characters such as security have their own spotlight on the stage of Sunday Gold.

If anything, the abrupt ending and numerous loose ends will surely disappoint those who will try this game out but there are still tons to appreciate about Sunday Gold.

Puzzles laced with Mini Games and Turn-Based Mechanics

Finally, the backbone of the Sunday Gold as a game is its excellent implementation of puzzles, mini-games, and turn-based combat.

Players will have to manage each character’s action points both in and out of combat.

Sunday Gold’s combat and mini games help break the monotony of solving one puzzle after another.

However, it pains me to say that the combat becomes extremely tedious with the level cap and enemy types in the latter parts of the game.

Too Short for a Masterpiece

Sunday Gold has everything that makes up a masterpiece but falls short from being one with its abrupt ending, imperfect combat, and numerous loose ends.

Regardless, Sunday Gold is worth playing — but maybe not at full price, sorry Team17 — and perfectly pays respect to its Narrative Designer, Thierry Gagnon.