Perils of Man

Lore & Background

The game was produced in Zurich, Switzerland, with a distributed production team of over 60 people. It was developed in Unity for mobile devices and sponsored by Swiss reinsurer Swiss Re as part of their 150-year anniversary. Chapter 1 was released for free on Apple's App Store in April 2014, and the full game followed in 2015 on Mac and PC via Apple's App Store and Steam.

Perils of Man is a third-person, touch-driven adventure game that follows the LucasArts point-and-click tradition. It is impossible to die or get stuck, allowing players to explore without needing to save. The plot begins when Ana Eberling receives a gift from her father on her 16th birthday, a decade after his disappearance. Exploring the family mansion in Zurich, she discovers a secret laboratory, befriends a mechanical bird named Darwin, and finds goggles that let her see through time, sending her to historical sites doomed to catastrophe.

The game's art style has been compared to that of Tim Burton, and it contains elements of steampunk fiction. Critics praised its graphic design, with Touch Arcade noting it as 'one of the finest looking games to grace the iPad in some time.'

Reader's Guide

Perils of Man holds significance as a visually distinctive point-and-click adventure that earned critical acclaim for its graphic design and atmospheric storytelling. Its sponsorship by Swiss Re as part of a corporate anniversary is an unusual production note. The game's adherence to the LucasArts design philosophy—no death or dead ends—makes it accessible to a broad audience. Reviews highlighted its emotional handling of grief and loss, with Touch Arcade calling it 'a powerful set up for a storyline' that handles those themes 'incredibly well.' Expert Reviews described it as 'hauntingly atmospheric' and 'adeptly touching on sensitive psychological territory.' Gamers Sphere praised its puzzle design, stating that each challenge felt naturally placed. Just Adventure noted the high production quality and the richly detailed environments. Despite a mixed Metacritic score of 61%, the game won the SGDA Award for Best Swiss Video Game of the year and received an EDI shortlist award. Its legacy lies in demonstrating how a sponsored, distributed production team could create a polished, narrative-driven adventure game with a unique visual identity.