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Bixby and the Isle of Charms

Name:	Anthony Rosenbaum
Date Posted:	Feb 12, 2008
Rating:	4.0 out of 5
Public:	YES
Comments:	YES
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Blog post

It's time!

Yes time to see what Plastic Games has been doing for the past few months. We have been busy. We just installed our second attraction at a major theme park in Orlando, Florida. We have also been developing some game prototypes and we want feed back on the first one we have ready titled. . .

Bixby and the Isle of Charms

What is it? Well you should play and see for yourself.

Controls:
W : Forward
Left Mouse Button : Dig
I : Inventory
Mouse:: Steering

In case you have a gamepad alt + m switches to gamepad controls.

Feedback is essential. This project is in early development, we want to hear from YOU, our audience. We have included a small survey and comments form to complete when you are done playing the game. If you like Bixby be sure to pass along the link to others or let your kids and spouse give it a try. Your feedback and honesty is integral so please fill out the feedback form when you are done.

In fact, Bixby is just the first of several game prototypes that we are going to be showing in the near future. Each game is vastly different so we should have something for everybody.

Bixby and the Isle of Charms on GGE

Have fun!!
Anthony Rosenbaum

Recent Blog Posts

List:	08/15/08 - Plastic Gems: 35-39 Plastic Tweaker Recapped 07/29/08 - Plastic Gem #35: Plastic Tweaker cometh 06/09/08 - Gem-A-day 02/12/08 - Bixby and the Isle of Charms 12/22/06 - Hi from My Wii 11/15/06 - New New New 02/20/06 - Old Navy Game 02/13/06 - MASTERS first class Final Project

Submit your own resources!

Justin DuJardin (Feb 13, 2008 at 00:16 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Thanks for the demo Anthony, here are my brief notes for you.

Cons
Movement is excruciatingly slow and this alone was why I stopped playing after 10 minutes.
Shovel digging requires many clicks (this may get better with the 'really fast' shovel, didn't find it)
Finding the coins seemed like an endless game of walking back and forth all over the place

Pros
Cool camera guided views of where you should go (very nice!)
Dialog bubbles are sensitive to being near people
Objectives system is spiffy and seemed dependable

Overall I thought the game itself was kind of a 'dud' in terms of wanting to play it, but hey being a 25 year old male, I'm probably not the target audience.

The pieces of the game mentioned in the Pros above however I think were awesome. Seems a cool adventure game could be constructed using the systems this demo has at it's disposal.

It reminded me a lot of the Zelda games in terms of overall feel, for some reason. I think that's a good thing!

Looking forward to your next demo.

-Justin

EDIT: I stopped playing before buying the cool drink to get the uber shovel.

Unsung Zero (Feb 13, 2008 at 01:05 GMT)

This is just a list I wrote as I played through. It's sloppy, sorry.
Moving is slow. It's a good speed for trying to find buried items, but not for travel. Play around with a run button. Right click maybe.
Include a close inventory button in the inventory UI.
Maybe display "I for inventory" in the top right like you have for walking.
I like that you can hold down the mouse button to click. (I didn't have the problem that Justin did with clicking)
I can't walk backwards
Maybe have an explanation of why I can't/shouldn't walk into the water. (It's dangerous?)
I like how the item to search for is red in the dialog bubble.
I like how the item detector's sound get more excited as you near the item.
Chasing the crab is fun, but it should probably scurry sideways.
After finding the two shells, place an exclamation point over blondie's head (ala wow), so kids know to head over to her.
The red shovel gets lost briefly in the red X in the digging screen.
The drink selling lady could use a drink station to signify that she sells drinks.
I think that keeping the footprints around is a great idea. It will prevent scanning the same area over and over. Maybe have a person mention the footprints, so children know to keep them in mind.

It reminds me of Chris LaBombards "Basic Bob".

Eric Preisz (Feb 13, 2008 at 03:35 GMT)

I would like to watch some kids play it and see what they think. I agree with the comments above. I also think that there are a lot of directions you can go with this concept, so that is great too.

If you are considering a console, watch out for use of that primary red color. A few publishers back in the day suggested not to use red since it washes out on many TVs. Maybe not an issue with everyone's LCDs and plasmas.

Michael Welch (Feb 23, 2008 at 02:47 GMT)

I like and agree with what most everyone is saying. I agree with all the highs and most of the lows. Being a demo/ proof of concept, I originally overlooked things like walk speed and lack of directional walking. I like the simplistic gameplay and the overall idea and theme.

I let my five year old at it for a while and he seemed to love it. He likes the cartoony feel and fun seek and find concepts. This could be a great game for his age range.

To increase difficulty for slightly more experienced players, you could impose things like time limits and other things like the crabs that might actualy steal your stuff. You might also think about things like mini games where you have to assemble things from pieces you find on the beach. This could also make a great educational game in that respect.

I have to give it all thumbs up. I can't wait to see where you go with this. It has a lot of potential and you could reach a large audience with just a couple of additions.

Great Great Great!!!

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