BROK the InvestiGator

Lore & Background

The game takes place in the fictional country of Atlasia, a futuristic 'light cyberpunk' era where anthropomorphic animals have replaced humans but now refer to themselves as humans. Privileged citizens live under a dome protected from ambient pollution, while others struggle to survive. The player controls Brok, a 35-year-old private detective alligator and former championship boxer, who lives with his 16-year-old stepson Graff, a cat. Brok's wife Lia died under unclear circumstances, and recent events may reveal a connection to a larger conspiracy. Players can switch between Brok and Graff at any time during gameplay.

Gameplay alternates between Adventure Mode, where players explore, talk to characters, find clues, and solve puzzles (inspired by Ace Attorney and Sam & Max), and Action Mode, which features jumping, attacking enemies, and boss battles reminiscent of Final Fight or Streets of Rage 2. Defeated enemies grant experience points, allowing players to level up and choose upgrades to health, attack power, or special attack cooldown. The game is fully voice-acted with over 23,000 lines of dialogue, and its art style is inspired by 1980s–early 1990s Saturday-morning cartoons, particularly The Disney Afternoon. The script for the first part was edited by Disney veteran Jymn Magon.

Reader's Guide

Development began in 2016 and took about six years, wrapping up in 2022. Previous working titles included Tough BROK and BROK the Brawler Detective; the final title is a play on 'alligator' and 'investigator'. A Kickstarter campaign launched on January 5, 2021, reached its €12,000 goal in 17 hours and ultimately raised €41,588, unlocking stretch goals such as smoother animations, optional boss battles, a theme song, a comic book, multiple game over screens, developer commentary, and couch co-op multiplayer. The game was written, scripted, and voice-acted entirely in English, then translated into French by the developer, with a total of ten languages available at launch (later eleven). The full game contains six chapters, taking 15–20 hours for a single playthrough, and features multiple endings based on player choices. A free-to-play spin-off visual novel, BROK - Natal Tail, A New Christmas, was released on Steam on December 13, 2024, without voiceovers, with home console ports following on December 1, 2025. The base game received post-launch updates including accessibility features for blind gamers, local co-op for up to four players, and a downloadable content pack titled The Brawl Bar, released on August 13, 2025.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed using GameMaker Studio 2.
• The Kickstarter campaign reached its main goal of €12,000 in just 17 hours.
• The game includes over 23,000 lines of spoken dialogue, all in English regardless of language setting.