Sally Beaumont praises narrative singleplayer games as a PC 'toolbelt'

Sally Beaumont is a voice actor and writer who studied drama at the University of Exeter and worked for many years as a voiceover artist. Since 2017 she has appeared in games including Heaven's Vault, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow and Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, and she wrote and played the lead in Old Skies, for which she was selected for the BAFTA Breakthrough programme.

Beaumont says she enjoys narrative singleplayer games for their modest scale and repeatability. "They tend to be quite small, so you can have lots of them in your PC toolbelt," she says, likening them to a favourite pub where the same characters and comforts await.

Playing The Séance of Blake Manor has taught her to be more selective with attention because of its time mechanic: "It stops me from doing that," she says of clicking every option. Her PC also holds older favourites. She still replays Nelly Cootalot and keeps Day of the Tentacle installed, and Old Skies shows up as the game with the most hours for her.

sally beaumont, voice actor, voiceover artist, old skies, bafta breakthrough, narrative games, singleplayer, pc toolbelt, time mechanic, nelly cootalot