No Vacancy

⏪ Back 2010

🐙 Welcome to the Pulpito Motel, the only motel in the middle of nowhere where ghosts pay for room service, eldritch horrors are out of work, and the owner may or may not be running every single business in town.

Also, you?

Yeah, you were kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of a car.

But don’t worry! It’s all part of the hospitality experience… probably. 💁🏽

This point-and-click adventure is a love letter to ‘90s LucasArts games (Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Sam & Max), blending Lovecraftian absurdity, cartoon mayhem, and a mystery that makes less sense the deeper you dig.

It was originally developed based on an animated TV series (which ghosted us—ironic, given the theme), 🤷 but instead of letting it die in the basement, we did what any self-respecting indie game devs would do: rewrote it, made it weirder, and built a world so ridiculous it refuses to be forgotten.

🏚️ A Motel, a Tentacle, and a Lot of Bad Business Decisions 💸

So, here’s the deal. You wake up in the trunk of an old car, parked outside a completely abandoned motel—except for the guy running it.

And, uh… the guy running the gas station.

And the photo shop.

And the diner.

They’re all the same guy.

And as you step into No Vacancy, you realize this place has a history. Fifty years ago, it was a world-famous amusement park motel, drawing thousands of visitors who came to see the legendary deep-sea horror, Pulpito.

Yes, an actual ancient tentacled god was chilling in the basement, trapped for eternity, smiling for tourists and waving at kids.

But, you know, people got bored. So they left.

And now?

It’s just you, the motel, some oddly enthusiastic ghosts, and the world’s saddest eldritch being. Oh, and the motel owner wants to sacrifice you to bring back the old glory days.

No pressure. 🏩

🧩 Solving puzzles in No Vacancy isn’t about using logic—it’s about understanding the completely unhinged logic of its weird, obsessive, and deeply confused inhabitants.

🎭 A photographer with a shop shaped like a giant camera who only takes blurry, ghost-filled pictures.

🎭 A diner shaped like a burger that only serves “Haunted Fries”, which may or may not contain ectoplasm.

🎭 A conspiracy-obsessed guest who thinks the real horror is the government, man (but also maybe the ghost standing behind him).

Everything in this world is cartoonish, exaggerated, and packed with detail, thanks to the insane artistic vision of Daniel Balage (yes, him again, the unstoppable machine).

Dan and I hand-sketched every part of this motel from scratch, infusing it with nods to classic adventure games, horror tropes, and a deep love for overly complicated background gags.

🐙 LucasArts DNA X Cthulhu Energy 🎮

When I wrote the script and puzzle design, I had one guiding principle:

“What would Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert do?”

They even have cameos hidden in the backgrounds—because, honestly, I owe my childhood to them.

Designing organic, hilarious, and ridiculous puzzles is way harder than it looks (seriously, my respect for old-school adventure game devs tripled), but every weird, character-driven challenge is here to make you laugh, not cry.

And the soundtrack?

🏆 Mathieu Alvado (yes, the one behind The Empire of the Ants game soundtrack) composed a genre-hopping, dramatic, and absurdly cinematic score that shifts styles as the adventure unfolds.

It’s got spooky tones, over-the-top action themes, and even a goofy-yet-haunting orchestral track for Pulpito, our friendly, unemployed cosmic horror.

⚠️ Where It Stands (And Why It’s Not Dead Yet) 💾

We built a fully playable version of No Vacancy back when iPads were all the rage.

The script? Done.

The puzzles? Devious.

The soundtrack? Glorious.

But, as with all ambitious indie projects, reality hit: the build is now outdated, the tech needs a refresh, and the game is stuck in limbo.

But here’s the thing—this project refuses to die. We still have the script, the artwork, the music, and the spirit of Pulpito himself willing it back into existence.

Maybe it’s time for a comeback. ✨

Who’s checking in?

🦑 As Writer & Game Designer, I built this point-and-click adventure, designing puzzles, narrative twists, and a cast of absurd characters, blending Cthulhu mythos, slapstick humor, and motel madness. 🏨🕵️

🖌️ All art by Daniel Balage

🧊 On Hold