I know I call most games cute. That must be annoying. But
don't worry, this point-and-click puzzlin' story book from the Czech gaming
studio Amanita Design isn't cute—IT'S ADORABLE. AhhhhhhHHHHHH it's just so
darned loveable! Everything is little and makes funny little
"yeehooooo!" noises (like Baby Mario but better) and your character
isn't just ONE character. Oh no. You play as FIVE BEST FRIENDS! Okay, so it
doesn't come right out and say they're best friends, but you know what's up. I
mean, they're always together: a mushroom, a Mr. Lantern guy, a little flying
feather man, a stick and a tall, hatted nut thing. Dawwww.
Anyway, premise: you run around on trees and underground and
meet other creatures, like worms and singing bugs and chestnuts and bacteria or
something, and they all make cute noises, too. And you're trying to save
everyone's home from the big, black spider thing that is sucking the life out
of the trees and plants and cute little creatures (think Ferngully, but without
Tim Curry). On the way, you collect creature cards (like Pokémon! Except you
don't fight them. This is a game about cooperation, guys), mementos of all the
little beasties you meet on the way. Like the flea circus! And the bitty micro
tree-squirrel! And the scary flying beetle guy!
So your little super-team of best friends runs around and
solves puzzles tries to save everyone from the meanie spider. Everyone keeps
telling them stories about how the spider ripped their head off or killed their
friend or pulled a whole tree RIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND. Super tragic stuff. But
the friends know their mission! And apparently so does everyone else. At one
point, they all sit down and watch a little puppet-show-creature give them a
puppet-performance of how they're going to pull the legs off the spider and murder
it with a giant knife and eat it for dinner, or something, and everybody cheers
and makes various other happy noises. And it's all very cute. I mean adorable.
Very adorable.
Something I learned: you have to have some pretty agile
cursor skillz at some points in this game. I played it through on my laptop,
but my fingers just weren't fast enough. I had to connect a mouse. I should
have probably known that from the start. But look—unlike Theodore, I wasn't
given video games instead of a soother. I'm STILL LEARNING GUYS, so shhhh. But
hey, if you're still learning, too, just remember to connect a mouse!
Back to how adorable the game is: there are lots of puffy
floaty things to play with, and lots of musical things to click on. The whole
landscape is super whimsical and beautifully designed and sort of vascular and explicitly alive. I don't really know how else to describe it. It reminded me of studying cell structures in biology class:
But it's also kind of cosmic and spacey. And usually pretty sensitive to the cursor: you can brush through the glowy wormy grassy stuff, and pop bubbles, and blow fuzz around. And that's before you start clicking on stuff! So much stuff to click on. If you like clicking on stuff you will like this game.
My rating:
I could...
A. Ummm
B. Take it.
C. Leave it.
PS:
The soundtrack is really great! You can listen to/buy it
here. And it comes on vinyl, you know, if you're hip like that. Neat!
And remember: when all your little friends die (in the game) don't panic. It will be O.K. The power of friendship will prevail! Or something! I mean, as long as you actually keep playing.
And remember: when all your little friends die (in the game) don't panic. It will be O.K. The power of friendship will prevail! Or something! I mean, as long as you actually keep playing.
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