Everything has a loose watercolor style to it, and paired with a wondrous use of color it feels like you’re controlling an animated painting. The graphics, character design and art direction of this game are fantastic. On the other hand, the mini-games are so innocuous that most players, young or old, will probably get bored with them very quickly, and I doubt there’s any replay value (the one exception being drawing in the sand). Thiele’s words, not on winning or losing a challenge. On one hand, I like that the mini-games are completely benign because they fit better in the context of the overall story, and keep the focus on Mr. Percival from being blown off course while flying through a storm. The only exception is one “action” scene that requires the player to keep Mr. This might sound like a silly thing to highlight in a review, but it was genuinely pleasing, in a beach-zen sort of way.įor better or worse, most of the mini-games have no goal, reward or consequence, nor do they demand skill or offer a challenge. It was fun to draw simple shapes in the convincingly sand-like canvas, but it was even more satisfying to hit the “erase” button and watch as the waves raced onto the shore and dissolved the artwork. My favorite, though, was a very simple diversion where you could use a stick to draw freely in the beach sand. Percival, or diving under the sea as you explore the coast. They mostly serve to punctuate moments from the story with open-ended tasks such as collecting cockles from the beach, gliding through an endless sky as Mr. The mini-games themselves are not demanding or intimidating, and entirely optional. Interaction can be either with the mouse or keyboard and is very straightforward, making it accessible to players of all ages. If you miss something, you can backtrack to re-read any part, and once you complete the whole game you can select specific chapters to replay any of the mini-games. The story is told in text above the scene, as words fade in, and then out again as you move. As players control the title character, they can move through lovingly rendered environments inspired by the book, with certain locations unlocking mini-games. Storm Boy brings to life the adventures of a young boy, his companion pelican, and all the unique characters that populate the dunes and beaches hugging Australia’s Southern coastline. Storm Boy is a short interactive narrative game based on the 1964 book by Thiele and is currently available for pretty much every conceivable platform (PC, mobile, and console) I’ll be reviewing the Steam version, but I assume it’s identical on other platforms. My adulthood would have suffered the same fate, had this game not introduced me to his wonderful work. This means that tragically my childhood was spent unknowingly devoid of Colin Thiele, a beloved Australian children’s book author, poet and historian. Of the many things that I’m not, being Australian is one.
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