The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble (PC) Playthrough

A playthrough of Sierra Online's 1995 graphic adventure for PCs running Windows 3.1, The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble.

In The Great Battle, humans reclaimed lands they abandoned long ago from the Boozook, an easy-going collective of creatures that sought a peaceful coexistence. Under the humans' oppressive rule, the Boozooks who remained were quickly subjugated and shunted to the ghettoes. The rumblings of a Boozook revolt now have the government on edge, and the human "bigwig" has ordered the capture of the Boozooks' would-be savior, Professor Azimuth, who has discovered the secret of the Schnibble.

You are Woodruff, the professor's son, and you've taken it upon yourself to save Azimuth, to prevent the coming genocide, and to flip the bird at the xenophobic, fear-mongering despots in charge.

Wow, that's such a whimsical premise that in no way reflects the current reality of millions, don't you think?

/clears throat

The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble was created by Coktel Vision, a French PC game studio that was known for games like Goblins, Lost in Time, and Inca before they were acquired by Sierra in late 1993. It fits within the same genre as Sierra's biggest hits, but Woodruff and the Schnibble is not the sort of game that you'd confuse with a King's Quest. It's a potent piece of social commentary couched in an off-kilter cartoon comedy, and it's a helluva lot smarter than most people seem to realize.

If you take it at face value, you'll find an entertaining (and difficult) puzzler with gorgeous graphics and an aggressively French sense of humor. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find a game that has been constructed with an extraordinary amount of care. Beyond the writing, every element, from the presentation down to the puzzle design, neatly slots together to serve the big picture, and you'll get out of it whatever you put in, just like a good piece of literature. An eye for symbolism helps, too. It would be easy to take one look at Woodruff and the Schnibble and shrug it off as a needlessly abstract, artsy-fartsy bit of fluff, but in doing so, you'd be missing out on one of the low-key best adventure games of the 90s. One of the funniest, too. I loved this game when I was 13, but it hits so much harder at 43.

Woodruff and the Schnibble is quite a ride, so grab your tobozon and hang on to your poohsmurgl. We have Boozooks to save!
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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