In 1988, the French studio Exxos released the incredibly strange space adventure game, Captain Blood.

Storms, disease, mutiny, vitamin deficiency these were all very real possibilities for the sea-faring explorer.

But what about space age explorers?

What weird and horrible difficulties would they face?

The role of imagination is often underplayed in video games.

Him who has been in our offices for months…He who comes from outside the Universe.

He that we reveal today to the world, because the hour has come.

The game itself is an icon-based adventure that breaks down into several distinct parts.

The first involves warping from planet to planet by clicking on a star map.

At the time, there was nothing else quite likeCaptain Bloods UPCOM (Universal Protocol of Communication).

Navigating your way from inhabited planet to inhabited planet, the richness of Exxos world-building soon becomes clear.

You might meet an alien who hates a rival race of aliens on another planet.

That alien might only cooperate if you agree to destroy their enemies.

Despite all this,Captain Bloodholds a spooky, fascinating power.

Its the case of an awful lot of disparate parts coming together to create something entirely unique.

Giger-inspired ship, the Ark, is an unforgettably curvy thing, all fleshy buttons and oval birth canals.

Electronica composer Jean-Michel Jarre contributed the appropriately alien-sounding track, Ethnicolor.

Most of all,Captain Bloodmakes you feel like an alien creature at the helm of a powerful ship.

Captain Bloodis the very definition of a cult game.

Its bold, inventive, and uses the 16-bit technology of its era in refreshingly unusual ways.

Thereafter,Captain Blooddesigner Philippe Ulrich worked on the real-time tactics gameDuneandThe 7th Guest.

As the 80s gave way to the 90s, a sequel toCaptain Bloodemerged Commander Blood,released in 1994.

The weirdly-titledBig Bug Bangwas even more obscure, and only came out in France.

Captain Bloodtherefore stands alone as a never-to-be-repeated moment in 80s gaming.

Sure, it isnt perfect.

But in its best moments,Captain Bloodjabs and probes at the imagination.