Broken Age Act 1: Did I just play a kids game?

[Dracos]

So Broken Age was a multi-part game that was started by Double-fine as a big kickstarter effort.  It was in fact, the famous kickstarter that got things going for game kickstarters, and one of the few that pushed a budget that was believable for getting things done (Hint: Most don't get anywhere near enough funds).

It is exactly what it promised to be.  A traditional, back to the roots, point and click adventure with beautiful 2d animated art.  And positively, failure is mostly not possible in it, like many of the better point and click games.  It's got lovely art, simple collect and use mechanics, and speaks to ages gone by.

At the same time, it's kind of disappointing to play.  It lacks an in game hint system.  It's entirely possible to effectively leave 'sections' of the game without picking up things you need for others, which can transform a clever scenario into a frustrating hunt.  The supporting cast is almost excessively innane.  On one route, you get almost entirely self-absorbed people with a significant portion of the talking audience looking forward to their soon demise at the hunger of Mog Chothra or disappointed at their lack of such.  On the other, you have Overprotective Mommy the AI and squealing little thread boys that like to hug and whine.  With very few exceptions, it is kind of annoying to interact with the NPCs.  Only one side ends with a somewhat positive ending.

It is well put together and bug free, and I expect for a younger crowd, it might be charming.  It just didn't work for me though.  On one side, I was the only sane person in the land of the insane, which while very traditional, grated a bit when the insane were literally trying to die.  On the other, I wasn't.  I was just one of the insane with a large area to wander, making traversal somewhat of a chore.

Effectively, it is something difficult to recommend, even as someone who does like a good point and click.

[Kaldrak]

I started playing the boys scenario and lost interest after a while. I did like that manipulative wolf thing though.

[Dracos]

Of the two scenarios, the girl's scenario was significantly better.  The boy's was both a more complicated situation and a more annoying cast generally.  The vast multi-room situations you had to deal with almost from the get-go of the boy's setup was way more complicated than the more traditional area ones of the girl.

[Dracos]

So Broken Age, Act 2 is out.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/04/29/broken-age-plot

I don't think I'm gonna bother.