''A Vampyre Story'' is a 2008

point-and-click Point and click are one of the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse or other pointing device (''click''). An example of point and click is in hypermedi ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

developed by

Autumn Moon Entertainment William Tiller is an American computer game designer, writer, and artist. At LucasArts, he was the lead artist and art director of '' The Dig'', the lead background artist on '' The Curse of Monkey Island'', and the lead artist on '' Indiana Jo ...

for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and published by Crimson Cow. The game is set in Europe during the 1890s, and follows a young female

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

turned

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

as she attempts to make the journey back home to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in search of fame and normality. The title's distinctive spelling of ''vampire'' with a ''y'' was derived from the seminal western vampire tale ''

The Vampyre "The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori, taken from the story told by Lord Byron as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the n ...

'' by

John Polidori John William Polidori (7 September 1795 – 24 August 1821) was a British writer and physician. He is known for his associations with the Romanticism, Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. ...

Gameplay

''A Vampyre Story'' was created by a number of former LucasArts adventure game developers, and is similar to some of their previous games (such as ''

The Curse of Monkey Island ''The Curse of Monkey Island'' is an adventure PC game developed and published by LucasArts in 1997. A sequel to 1991's '' Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge,'' it is the third game in the ''Monkey Island'' series. It follows protagonist Guyb ...

'' or ''

The Dig The Dig may refer to: * The Dig (band), American rock band * ''The Dig'' (2018 film), an Irish drama film * ''The Dig'' (2021 film), a British drama film * The Dig (podcast), a Jacobin Magazine podcast on politics and history * "The Dig" (''House'' ...

'') in presentation and style. As such, the game uses a

interface with a

context-sensitive Context-sensitive is an adjective meaning "depending on context" or "depending on circumstances". It may refer to: * Context-sensitive meaning, where meaning depends on context (language use) ** Context-sensitive grammar, a formal grammar in which ...

radial cursor, much the same as ''Monkey Island'': upon clicking an interactive item, a graphic menu will appear around the object, displaying the available actions and abilities. As the game progresses, Mona will gradually learn how to use her new supernatural abilities. Consequently, her newfound powers and weaknesses will play a large role in the game's puzzles, requiring Mona to use her abilities to overcome certain challenges and progress through the game.

Plot

Mona De Lafitte, the game's protagonist, is a young and talented Parisian opera student who becomes the object of obsession for a rather pathetic vampire. As a result, Mona is swiftly kidnapped and taken to his castle in Draxsylvania, where she is turned into an undead vampire. Mona must find a way to return home and fulfill her dream of becoming a famous opera singer, while also dealing with the unfamiliar problems inherent in her new condition. Mona is not alone throughout the adventure however, but is followed by her newly acquired and sarcastic

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

, Froderick the bat. The game is divided into two main areas: Castle Warg — the home of her kidnapper, Shrowdy von Kieffer, and his mother, the Baroness Vasilia von Kieffer — and the town of Vlad's Landing. The cliffhanger ending suggests an upcoming sequel, which has since been announced: '' A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat's Tale''.

Development

''A Vampyre Story'' was first announced in the June 2004 issue of ''The Inventory'', an online adventure gaming magazine, as the winner of their "Most-Awaited Adventure Game" award. The game was originally given a tentative release date of

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

2006, but the loss of publisher backing in April 2005 left the game in unpaid preproduction for the following year. During this time

Bill Tiller William Tiller is an American computer game designer, writer, and artist. At LucasArts, he was the lead artist and art director of ''The Dig (video game), The Dig'', the lead background artist on ''The Curse of Monkey Island'', and the lead arti ...

, Autumn Moon's founder and creative director, generally worked with no more than one or two other people on staff at any one time. This helped to reduce the cost of production while the project was still unfunded. In early July 2006 however, Autumn Moon announced that they had finally acquired a new publisher for ''A Vampyre Story'', the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

-based Crimson Cow, and that full production on the game would begin shortly thereafter, stating an expected 2007 release. In September 2007 however, the first trailer for ''A Vampyre Story'' was released, specifying a new date of early 2008. While Autumn Moon has mentioned their interest in the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

and

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

as potential release platforms, these were later cancelled. A "Super Digital Deluxe Edition" was released by Jordan Freeman Group on ZOOM-Platform.com on March 31, 2023. In addition to the game, a number of bonus content items, such as concept art and behind the scenes photos, are included. The game would also be re-released via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

on July 30, 2023.

Audio

The ''A Vampyre Story Original Soundtrack'' was composed and produced by

Pedro Macedo Camacho Pedro Macedo Camacho is a Portuguese composer of classical music as well as film and video game scores. He is best known for his scores to ''Star Citizen'' and '' World of Warcraft: Shadowlands''. Biography Camacho was born in Funchal, a city in ...

, featuring soprano vocals by Carla Isabel Moniz and violin solos by

Carlos Freitas Carlos Manuel Ribeiro Freitas (born 20 January 1994) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Right back, right-back for Liga Portugal 2 club Länk FC Vilaverdense, Länk Vilaverdense. Football career On 31 Ju ...

. The soundtrack was released as an extra to the collector's edition of the game. According to an article in Develop Magazine, and an interview in ''The Pumpkin Post'', John Williams’ work on the

Harry Potter film series ''Harry Potter'' is a film series based on the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. The series was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with ''Harry Potter and the Ph ...

and Michael Land's work on the Monkey Island series were Camacho's main influences. Several websites mentioned the soundtrack as one of the game's best features and described it as 'absolutely fantastic', 'memorable and melancholy', 'great', and 'ingenious'.

Reception

''A Vampyre Story'' was commercially unsuccessful. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' reported in 2013 that it "sold between 30,000 and 35,000 copies, well short of the expectations to move 80,000 units."

Sequel and prequel

''A Vampyre Story'' was intended as the opening chapter of a larger saga, and

commenced production on the sequel prior to the game's release. '' A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat's Tale'' was described as picking up directly after the events of ''A Vampyre Story'', which ended with a cliffhanger. Originally slated for a release in 2009 or 2010 - a much quicker turnaround than the first installment - the sequel's development has been indefinitely stalled due to budgetary contentions between Autumn Moon and the game's publisher, Crimson Cow Games. With the publishing rights to the sequel owned by Crimson Cow, Autumn Moon decided to work independently on an episodic prequel called '' A Vampyre Story: Year One''. The series will depict Mona's first year of captivity in Castle Warg, including her introduction to Froderick the bat. Bill Tiller initially announced the project in 2010, stating that he was working on the game in his free time. He later considered collaborating with MunkyFun, where he was at the time working as the studio's art director and which had previously been commissioned to assist in the building of Autumn Moon's graphic adventure engine. Ultimately, Tiller announced that he would attempt to get the game funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, and launched the project on June 1, 2013. Though the campaign proved unsuccessful, Tiller and a skeleton crew from the previous Autumn Moon games decided to keep the project going. The effort to convert the Autumn Moon engine to

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

led to '' Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler!''

References

External links

''A Vampyre Story'''s official website

A just-before-release interview about A Vampyre Story and the forthcoming A Vampyre Story 2
a
Adventure Classic GamingInterview with Bill Tiller about the game
a
The International House of MojoAnother interview with Bill Tiller about the game
a
HonestGamers''A Vampyre Story'' preview at La Isla del Mono (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vampyre Story I 2008 video games Cancelled Nintendo DS games Cancelled Wii games Crimson Cow games MacOS games Point-and-click adventure games Single-player video games Video games about vampires Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Pedro Camacho Video games set in Europe Video games set in the 1890s Windows games