The Day we got a pet

This game purports to be the eleventh in a long series, which is a clever gimmick. The game has several clever parts.

However, it has a lot of little bugs that add up to a good deal. It's self-aware about it (the game's most accurate line is "Oh boy, you sure hope these generic messages don't mean this puzzle is bugged!").

Overall, it was interesting, but I wasn't able to complete one of the three core puzzles, the one belonging to the error message above. I did read the ending after decompiling, though.

After the previous game’s confusing mess of sci-fi tropes, we’re back at Alex and Paul’s house. Alex has ordered a Neptunian deathhound (!) for Paul’s birthday, and the puzzles involve travelling to several minor locations to fetch the appropriate protection for readying the house for the new, quite ferocious, pet.

The puzzles are a mixed bag. Some of them are simple and well-clued, one has a confusing hint (that I still don’t understand), but is easy to solve by brute force, and one seems almost impossible to solve without a walkthrough or hints (and don’t make much sense in the game world, either).

As we have come to expect, the game has a somewhat spotty implementation and quite a few spelling mistakes (though far fewer than the first games in the series had). But I didn’t find any major bugs.

There’s some humour, making the game more enjoyable. And for the long-time fans, there are also references to earlier ‘Alex and Paul’ games. In my opinion, the series is best when it takes place in a (pseudo-)realistic setting, and I’m glad the game didn’t continue on the prequel’s clichéd sci-fi time-travelling-stuff-that-hardly-makes-sense path.

All in all, this a short and simple, puzzle-based game. Not a particularly good game, mind you, but about par for an ‘Alex and Paul’ game (hence the two stars). I look forward to playing the sequel (hinted at by the game’s ending).