Information

Game Title

For My Parents

Game Type

Adventure puzzle game

Platform

Tested on Windows 10 64bit PC

Game Rating

This game has no metacritic rating and targeted for the intermediate gamer and has no obvious violence.

Publisher

NoVi Factory

Developer

Scott Free Games

Publishing Date

Released December 2016

Synopsis

The player takes the role of a little girl Kira who has accompanies her archeologist parents on an expedition to an ancient temple. Kira wakes to find her parents missing and the player has the goal to find her missing parents. Kira has the ability to switch her conscientious between herself a rabbit (bunny) and a bird. The user must use this ability and a slingshot to solve various puzzles in order to advance through the maze in the temple and find her parents.

Game Play Summary

Playability

Overall I found the game intriguing and an original take on the puzzle/adventure game, however; I the control (keyboard) and reactions to control input I found frustrating. Once the game started I found it moved at a satisfying pace. The game has a very consistent look and feel through all the scenes, help and credit displays. I would have preferred a way to bypass the beginning monologue after the first time I played it.

I found the camera views smooth and logical after I figured out the nuances of “switching” characters. I like the idea of having the ability to view the character from all angles (horizontally and vertically).

I liked the characters and found they fit the story very well, although I did not really understand the drops around on the Kira when in the temple sweat? tears?

It frustrated me that the lack of proper response and inconsistent response to input foiled my attempts to solve the various puzzles. I knew the solution but I could not fully implement it. The reward for solving the puzzle did not make up for the frustration of implementing the solution. I strongly suspect that more experienced players would not have this problem.

Single/Multiplayer

This game only comes in a single player version using keyboard and mouse for input.

Controls

The game used the AWSD keys for avatar movement (Kira, Bunny or Bird) and they move generally in relation to the screen view, i.e. D move avatar to the right, A to the left, W to the top and S to the bottom of the screen. I found the response to input to lag in some cases, especially when changing direction. The avatar movement and animation response to input seemed inconsistent in response time (from immediate to a second) when changing direction the animation played did not always seem the same (this caused me and the bunny to fall often).

The mouse controlled the camera while the left and right buttons aimed and shot the sling shot. I never did get the hang of ‘aiming’ the sling shot, I found a ‘shot’ gun approach seemed to work when attacked by teh spiders, I found I could not hit target close to the Kira avatar.

Bugs

I consider the following a bug while other more experienced gamers would consider it an additional challenge that rewards those with increased skill levels:

1. Bunny animations seemed inconsistent, the same keyboard input did not always give the same animations or movement.
2. The bunny did not always move in the direction expected according to the instructions.
3. Lack of explanation for the bars shown on the UI for the player

Final Thoughts

I play tested this game in beta version and at the time I had two main complaints, the artwork, visual look and the avatar movement. I found the artwork and visual appeal much improved and it fits the game world very well. The movement while improved still leaves room for improvement.

I found the puzzles ranged from easy to I did not solve them. As noted above I became frustrated when I could not implement my solution to test if it solved the puzzle.

I honestly believe an intermediate gamer older than seven or eight would find this game fun and rewarding to play.