Parkour! || Stumblehill (PC)

“You don’t just stumble into the future. You create your own future.” -Roger Smith

Title

Stumblehill is an adorable, if frustration inducing, platformer adventure created by Hempuli. You play as a penguin named Ecki who wakes up alone in his nest and begins a journey to the tallest mountain. Ecki travels through fields, caves, windmills and faces all kinds of danger to reach his destination, but Ecki’s biggest danger is you.

The controls are the biggest obstacle in this game, and I struggled to get through. There are times where you have to be more precise in your jumps and the way poor Ecki stumbles, rotates in the air or launches himself off cliffs even can result in a lot of trial and error to get through some areas. Admittedly, platformers are not really my strong suit. I did appreciate the amount of checkpoint flags that were provided, so that if you fall a long way or get stuck you can just hit “Z” and restart at the last flag you touched.

I love the windmills

The art style for this game is adorable. Ecki is the cutest penguin I have ever seen, and despite the times I sighed in exasperation and resented him, I still wanted to give him a hug. The environments are vibrant, the colors are beautiful, and the levels are well crafted and thoughtfully put together. The Windmill area was my favorite, I think, although the caves were really beautiful as well.

The music was relaxing and enjoyable, and the sound effects were fitting, even if I got sick of hearing Ecki fall on the ground (I guess I just shouldn’t have fallen so much). Poor Ecki cries every time he gets up after he falls, the poor guy. He was crying the whole adventure for me, but he made it!

My daughter was sitting with me while I played through some of the levels. There are signs that sort of show a picture and a key as a helpful aide for controls. Though, they weren’t always clear what was being asked of us, so my daughter interjected, “I don’t understand SIGN language (paused for laugh).” There is a way to check the controls on the opening screen of the game, so it wasn’t hard to figure the controls out, but I wanted to share that story anyway because I love my daughter and it was cute.

Ecki continues on...

Over all I enjoyed the adventure. There were times I got frustrated, but thanks to the abundance of checkpoints I never had to redo a large amount of work to get back to where I was. The game isn’t long either, so it doesn’t become repetitive or boring. You can check the game out for yourself, it’s free from Itch.io HERE. Be sure to leave some feedback for Hempuli and let them know how you liked it.

As always, thank you for stopping in today. Have you played games where the controls are purposely(or unintentionally) frustrating? Do you think a little penguin could really make such a long journey? Let me know what you thought in the comments below. Have a great day everyone, see you next time!

Gaming in Cat Pajamas? || Kirigami (PC)

Kirigami!

Kirigami is an adorable, paper style adventure and puzzle solving game project by Sophie Cook for Studio 694, WCG's in-house game studio. You play as an adorable creature in cat pajamas, and you traverse an intriguing doll style house to solve puzzles and interact with the characters.

The art style of the game is where I think it really shines. I love hand drawn games, and the pieces almost looks like stickers placed in a story book at times. I am not sure what all there is to do, since all 3 times I played I ended up getting stuck on the roof after I got the black feather for the potion. I’m clearly missing something, but I’m not sure what. I wish I knew, because for what it is, I did enjoy what I played.

What a witch!

The walking animation is odd, as it would play often while I was standing still, but rarely when I was actually moving. I also had an issue with items not appearing in my bag at times, like the rubix cube (which I thought to give to the fellow on the roof, but never seemed to have it).

Despite the errors and bugs, I think that the creator was on to something that would be fun and interesting. I hope that they are able to take this idea and make something amazing in the future. If you’re interested, you can certainly download the demo to play, free from Itch.io *here*. I bet you can do better than I did. 

Be sure to leave feedback and encouragement for the developers! Until next time, Jammers. Happy gaming!

Bell

Deep in the Heart of Trouble || Date or Die (Prologue/Pilot)

Title

 

Date or Die is an episodic (so far) visual novel game in the works by Arden. You play as “Hero” and you’ve awoken to find yourself in a metal room with no immediately apparent escape. There is one door, but it’s locked, and a computer screen built into one wall. When the screen comes to life, you’re given a strange quiz and it matches you to another person, who you don’t even know. After which the door opens. You can even be matched to the host.

You’re met with some other folks who appear to be in the same situation as you are. They can’t remember their names either, nor do they remember how they got there. You do all have matching pink rings, however. They must have some significance.

Gang is all here!

I like the variety of characters. They all have a unique design and they all seem to have their own personalities as well. I really like the art style they are drawn in. I was matched with “Mesmer” in the beginning quiz during my first go, but “Luna” and “Six” caught my eye also.   

You soon meet the host, who explains that he has this game show to prove that anyone can find love. ANYONE. You have no choice but to participate, since those pink rings are able to poison you at the host’s whim. You’ll be participating in some challenges, designed to test your devotion to the idea of love (according to the host, anyway). But how far are you willing to go? A human’s natural instinct is to survive, but are you willing to kill another to have your chance…?

Mesmer's grin, though...

In the Pilot Episode, you get some sneak peaks with either the Host, or with “Mesmer”. Mesmer is one of the other characters being held captive for the game show. I don’t want to talk about them too much cause I don’t want to spoil any of it. I did enjoy both branches of the pilot, though. I’m intrigued by the host and I really want to know more.

Overall the Prologue and the Pilot Episode are great. They’re well written, the plot is interesting, and the characters are unique and they make me want to learn more about them. I can’t wait to see more from this developer for this game. You can download and play the prologue *here* and then try the Pilot Episode *here*.

Thank you all so much for stopping in! I hope you’ll give this game a try. Let me know what you thought in the comments below! See you next time!

Bell