The Experiment

The Experiment is a sci-fi point & click adventure game for the Amiga, created using the GR.A.C. authoring system. It has a LucasArts-style action bar interface, with six action buttons represented by symbols: "look at" (an eye), "take" (an upwards arrow), "operate" (an arrow pointing to a button), "use ... with ..." (an arrow pointing to a key in a lock), and "talk to" (a mouth). The left mouse button is used to select an action button, or select an inventory item, or to cause the main character to walk towards the clicked position. The right mouse button is used to perform an action on an object/character in the current room. You can save games in 10 slots by holding down the shift key and pressing the function keys F1-F10, and load saved games by pressing the same function keys without the shift key.

The story begins in the 31st century on a United Planets base, stationed on the planet Van Merak IV. The base has just been bombed by a hostile alien race, killing several. We follow the story of one survivor, Ensign Bud Lightning, as he helps repair damage the base and starts to learn more about why the base was targeted.

The Experiment is a "Galactic Voyages" game, set in the same universe as the games "Starbase 13" and "Epsilon 9: Revenge of the Stingons". The main character in those games, Yeno Hou, is featured in a supporting role. A sequel to The Experiment called "Entity" began development in 1998, but it languished for a few years in an mostly-complete state, before being finally released as freeware in 2002.