The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble

The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble (European title: Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth) is a 1994 French adventure game developed by Coktel Vision. The game was created and written by artist Pierre Gilhodes, the creator of the Gobliiins series, of which Woodruff shares its visual style, gameplay and offbeat humor, though is not an official part of the Gobliiins series or canon. Woodruff was distributed in North America in 1995 by Sierra Entertainment.

The game begins where a great city has since devolved into a nightmarish dystopia, ruled by a bureaucratic and totalitarian government. Heading the government is The President, accompanied by his corrupt and maniacal advisor the BigWig, who enacts excessive taxation (including taxes on breathing and walking) and fear-based propaganda upon the city citizens, including a peculiar warning about a nocturnal beast who feeds upon those who oppose their government's regulations. In the lower levels of the city, relations between humans and Bouzouks have grown to their most tense, giving rise to a group known as the Bouzouk Freedom Party, a terrorist organization who, being natural pacifists, have yet to commit any actual acts of terrorism.

Professor Azimuth, an eminent political and scientific human personality known for his work on manipulating the aging process of cells, sympathizes with the plight of the Bouzouks and becomes determined to help end their oppression. In his research, he discovers the legend of the Schnibble, a mystical entity that is believed to have the ability to cause peace and prosperity to flourish, and begins work on finding a way to unleash it. Word spreads about his work, and Azimuth is hailed as a hero by the Bouzouk community. Unfortunately, word of the Schnibble also reaches the ears of the BigWig. To stave off any chance of a revolution, the BigWig and his thugs storm the home of Azimuth and his young, adopted half-human, half-Bouzouk son Woodruff.

Professor Azimuth barely has time to hide Woodruff before the BigWig breaks into their house, kidnapping the professor and ruthlessly gunning down Woodruff's beloved teddy bear in the process, but not before befitting him with a Viblefrotzer, an invention of his own design that can speed up the aging process (and looks eerily similar to a Sony Walkman). Within seconds, Woodruff ages about fifteen years, finding himself now prepared for an epic quest: rescue his adopted father, avenge the death of his teddy bear by extracting revenge on the evil BigWig and find a way to unleash the Schnibble and bring peace back to the city.


 * Anti-Frustration Features: Many puzzles require money to solve, and the only way to earn more money beyond your first coin is through gambling. Fortunately, you are guaranteed to win if you are down to your last coin.
 * Cerebus Syndrome: The early phase of the game is extremely silly, with multiple breakages of the fourth wall. By the time Woodruff learns about Coh Cott, the game (while still humorous) reshapes itself into a study of racism and cultural interaction.
 * Chekhov's Boomerang: The chewing gum, which is required twice (the second one at the end of the game).
 * Chekhov's Gun: Several. For example, the underwear button.
 * Cult: The Schnibble Cult. They're backed by the Bigwig, who's exploiting the concept of the Schnibble for his own gain.
 * Fantastic Racism: Humans towards Bouzouks.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Using the Discerning Formula on the three cup man makes Woodruff realize that the man is cheating, and how he does it. However, up until that point is completely possible to win him by abuse of Save Scumming, which shouldn't be possible if he was actually cheating.
 * I Can't Reach It: Woodruff has to go past an acid liquid river, but is barefoot. If he has one boot (which is acid-resistant), he says that he can cross it by hopping on one leg. But not being the sharpest pencil in the drawer, he hops in the acid with his bare foot and is forced to go back. He could simply try again and hop on the booted foot this time, learning from his mistake (even an idiot can think this), but no, he will repeat the same mistake again and again. The player is meant to find another boot so he can cross the river full-booted every time. But then, Woodruff is an Idiot Hero.
 * Idiot Hero: Woodruff, who begins the game somewhere between minutes to days after being turned from an infant into an adult.
 * Inherently Funny Words: The main theme behind the names of everything.
 * Inside a Computer System: The Health Wiseman is trapped inside the virtual trip until Woodruff frees him.
 * It's a Wonderful Failure: The bad endings have elements of this.
 * Light and Mirrors Puzzle: One such puzzle appears at the beginning, in the shop. You must position two mirrors so that they're able to correctly deflect a light beam and hit a nose, making it visible.
 * Limited Animation: Parodied when Woodruff places a stone 'A' into an indentation. Instead of showing him doing this, an animator pops up (conveniently obscuring Woodruff) and complains about how hard to animate the scene is, especially because of all the nonsensical words.
 * Magical Incantation: The seven Formulas you learn to use.
 * Mind Control Device: The hypnotic CD you get in the Schnibble cult.
 * Never Learned to Read: Woodruff, having literally just left infancy, doesn't know how to read at the start of the game. One of your first tasks is learning how.
 * Nintendo Hard: This game's puzzles are infamously difficult.
 * Poor Communication Kills: The backstory of the game has a shining example: when humans first arrived at the Hill, the Bouzouks decided to scare them off. Their means was a giant statue of an armed, armored Bouzouk warrior. The humans read this as a threat, and the resulting war began a long history of mistreatment for the Bouzouks.
 * Running Gag: The little man who pops up and questions whether you've paid your taxes.
 * Spell Construction: Once you've learned some of the Wisemen's Syllables, you must enter a special screen, where you make specific groups of three Syllables (using some instructions you find in the Bouzouk throne room) to create some magic Formulas.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": The game can't decide if the native mutants are called "Boozooks" or "Bouzouks". Both spellings are used in different places.
 * Super Strength: Woodruff gets this power once you make the Strength Formula. It also seems to be permanent, as Woodruff doesn't need to repeat the Formula each time he needs to use this power, as he needs to do with all other Formulas.
 * Teleporters and Transporters: Near the end of the game, you acquire a teleportation device, which cuts down a great deal on your backtracking.
 * Words Can Break My Bones: The nine Syllables originally known by the seven Wisemen.