Mr. Beaver

This is my third game I've played by Mr Hoffmann. I've had essentially the same experience with all three: I encountered them in a German competition, where they are by far the largest game. However, since they use drop down menus, I can often get far even without knowing a lot of verbs. However, after an hour or three of gameplay, I realized I only have 100 points out of 1000 or 2000 or 3000. So I give up, then later find the game in an English competition, where I can complete it. The only one that didn't follow that pattern is Phoney Island, a german-only game about Trump being evil that I finished in German.

This game has you investigating a store after its owner has mysteriously disappeared. There is a lot of merchandise, junk, and random stuff in the shop, all of which you can investigate and put together.

The multiple choice menus help here a lot, just like before. There are a lot of specific verbs we need, like 'unscrew' and 'wedge' and so on, and the menus help with that. There are also three levels of hints for many puzzles, which is nice.

However, sometimes these systems fall apart. There are times when the multiple choice menu has the right verb but using it puts the noun in the wrong part of the sentence, causing it to fail. Sometimes the right word doesn't appear in the menu at all, so you need to type it, and often there are two places the word can be (the object being used and the object it's being used on) and you have to look at both objects to find it. Similarly, many of the puzzles have many conceivable solutions but you are forced into only one.

Overall, I think people will enjoy this who enjoy parser games for their ability to let you wander around a large space, tinkering with things, getting funny messages, and just existing in a parser world.