Ben There, Dan That!

Lore & Background

The game puts players in control of two characters named Ben and Dan, styled after the game's creators. They must complete inventory-based puzzles to unlock doors to various dimensions aboard an alien spaceship and return home. Players can swap between the characters to have them work together. The plot begins in a London flat, where roommates Ben and Dan break their television antenna while trying to watch a show about a man with a mustache. Their attempt to assemble a replacement results in an inadvertent alien abduction. Trapped on the spaceship, they open doors to universes such as Zombie London, Dinosaur London, and a London that has become the 51st State. At the end, they discover the spaceship is a fake located in a warehouse, a trick by their time-traveling future selves disguised as aliens to prevent interruption of their world domination plans.

Reader's Guide

Ben There, Dan That! is notable as the debut freeware title from Zombie Cow Studios, later known as Size Five Games. Its development by roommates Dan Marshall and Ben Ward, designed in a pub, reflects an indie ethos. Critics praised the game's humor and writing, with Jim Squires of Gamezebo calling the dialogue 'brilliantly written' and noting its 'distinctly British' and 'racy' humor. However, the game was criticized for its short length, lack of music, and low puzzle difficulty. It inspired two sequels: Time Gentlemen, Please! in 2009 and Lair of the Clockwork God in 2020. The game's legacy lies in its cult status among adventure game fans, particularly those who appreciate classic LucasArts SCUMM-style games, as noted by Kotaku's Stuart Houghton. Its freeware distribution helped it reach a wide audience despite its brevity.

Did You Know?

• The game was designed by Dan Marshall and Ben Ward while they were roommates, in a pub.
• The game's plot involves a fake alien spaceship created by the characters' time-traveling future selves.
• Critics noted the game's humor was 'best left to adults' due to its racy content.
• The game was released as freeware on July 13, 2008.

Gameplay & Core Mechanics

Ben There, Dan That! is a point-and-click adventure game that places players in the shoes of two roommates, Ben and Dan, whose designs are modeled directly on the game's creators. The core loop revolves around solving inventory-based puzzles to unlock a series of doors that lead into different dimensions, all aboard an alien spaceship. The ultimate goal is to find a way back home. A key mechanical element is the ability to swap control between the two characters at will, allowing them to cooperate on puzzles that require both of them to act in tandem. The game was developed by Zombie Cow Studios, a small team that later rebranded as Size Five Games, and was distributed as freeware for Windows, launching on July 14, 2008. Its accessibility as a free download helped it reach a wide audience of adventure game fans who appreciated its lighthearted tone and straightforward puzzle structure.

Plot & Narrative Structure

The story opens in a modest London flat where Ben and Dan, two perpetually broke roommates, are trying to fix their television reception so they can catch an episode of Magnum, P.I. Their antenna was destroyed during a previous, unexplained adventure, and their clumsy attempt to build a replacement triggers an inadvertent alien abduction. Stranded aboard an extraterrestrial vessel, the pair discovers that the only path home involves opening doors into parallel universes and locating the key to the next door within each one. The dimensions they traverse include a zombie-infested London, a prehistoric London teeming with dinosaurs, and a London that has somehow become the fifty-first state of America. The game's climax delivers a sharp twist: the entire spaceship is revealed to be a prop hidden in a warehouse, and the aliens are actually Ben and Dan's own future selves, who disguised themselves to prevent their younger counterparts from ruining their plans for world domination.

Development & Creative Origins

Ben There, Dan That! was the product of two friends, Dan Marshall and Ben Ward, who were living together as roommates when they conceived and built the game. The project was designed in a pub, a setting that speaks to the informal, low-budget ethos behind the title. The duo worked under the studio name Zombie Cow Studios, which has since been rebranded as Size Five Games. They chose to release the finished product as freeware for the Windows platform, making it available to players at no cost on July 14, 2008. The characters of Ben and Dan are direct stylized representations of their creators, lending the game a personal, autobiographical flavor. The pub-based development process and the freeware distribution model gave the project a distinctly grassroots character, setting it apart from the more polished, commercially funded adventure titles of the era while still drawing clear inspiration from the golden age of LucasArts SCUMM-era games.

Critical Reception & Lasting Legacy

Upon release, Ben There, Dan That! earned broadly positive reviews, with critics singling out its humor as the standout feature. Jim Squires of Gamezebo awarded it four out of five stars, praising the dialogue as brilliantly written and noting that it kept players laughing throughout. He did, however, flag the game's brevity, the absence of a musical score, and the relatively low puzzle difficulty. Squires also observed that while the game drew on family-friendly adventure conventions, its racy, distinctly British comedy made it more suitable for adult audiences. Luke Jensen of Adventure Gamers described the experience as unique and hilarious, while Stuart Houghton of Kotaku noted its heavy debt to classic LucasArts SCUMM titles and called the graphics primitive, yet still recommended it. The game's legacy endures through two sequels: Time Gentlemen, Please! in 2009 and Lair of the Clockwork God in 2020, confirming that the formula resonated with a dedicated audience.