The Inlaws is a comedy adventure game that is designed with elements from
sitcoms such as audience laughter. The game consists of a single episode and
the player takes control of a middle aged man called Ed who, along with his
family, visits his in-laws to celebrate the tenth birthday of the son in the
family. Ed is a mischievous being, though, who can’t resist making the life of
his poor brother-in-law as miserable as possible. There are thus two
objectives: mess with the son’s birthday gifts and ruin the performance of the
hired entertainment troupe.

The player controls Ed from a third-person perspective and can explore a three
dimensional environment that consists of the inlaws’ house as well as their
back garden. The gameplay is typical for an adventure game as Ed collects
items that are stored in his inventory where they can be combined with others
to create new ones. By using the items on certain objects in environment or on
a character, cut-scenes are triggered that advance the story. Some characters
can be talked to and the player then has to choose the dialogue option that
will please the character. For each puzzle solved the player earns points.
When stuck it is possible to use a help option which shows the direction to
the object or character that the player needs to interact with next. When
using it the player will not earn any points though.

The Inlaws