Are you sick of hearing the now clichéd ‘Adventures games are dead’ whenever fond memories of LucasArts and Sierra classics are shared? Even worse, are you sick of saying it? Because, like all overused maxims, this one also has that shred of truth that led to its conception, but it also led to a whole bunch of developers striving to prove it false.

Zombie Cow Studios appear to be making excellent use of Chris Jones’s Adventure Game Studio to do just that, and pun-ridden Ben There, Dan That! is a fantastic – and free! – example of what they’re capable of.

Ben There, Dan That! is a highly satirical point ‘n’ clicker that sends the titular pair of protagonists on a ridiculous quest in the vein of adventure games of old. It’s loaded with LucasArts references, including cameo appearances by Full Throttle’s Ben, the “Gold Guy”, as well as numerous other notable characters.

Sam looks particularly homicidal here. The Purple Tentacle is such a terrible influence.

The game wastes no time in poking fun at everything, including itself. It’s a lot like my own Ultimate Quest in this regard, actually, which particularly endeared the game to me. It’s silly, it’s funny, it doesn’t take anything seriously, and yet its puzzles are still well-designed and have exactly the kind of ridiculous solutions you’d expect from a game of this type.

All in all, it’s worth playing. If Zombie Cow studios had chosen to sell it for a price, it would be worth buying. Which means we have high hopes for Time Gentlemen, Please!, its sequel.