Aotearoa

Aotearoa is a great game, extremely solid, though not enough of a mystery for me, a little too childish/educational. It clearly hit all the targets it was trying to, a great romp in a solid setting with a few extras (Spoiler - click to show)such as naming of animals. I thoroughly enjoyed how actionous the game was, lots of physical things to do, lots of energy and urgency. As it is, I've docked a point for it not being challenging/mysterious enough, and for some suspension of disbelief problems with the NPC(Spoiler - click to show) Eruera. Is he really happily telling stories whilst lying on the beach with a broken leg awaiting aggressive poachers? Those folklore bits might have been better in cutscenes as it messed with the urgency in places and thus the pacing somewhat.

There is an optional in-game tutorial mode which includes guidance about what commands to try and highlighting of keywords. I think we need some good beginner games, and the helpful nudges don't intrude on the awesomeness of the game itself, that is, it doesn't feel like a tutorial game, just a game with a handy guide in it. It also has a more forgiving and helpful parser than standard and so is going to be the game I recommend to people who want to start playing IF.

I've just learned how to spell it, still don't know how to pronounce it. I'm sure the blorb would stretch to a sound file :o)

Very tight, polished, obviously well-loved, gentle, warm, actionous, DINOSAURS.

[This review is for the competition release, IF comp 2010.]