Nordlicht

Review

You start the game as Aurora; she’s dreaming about flying over the northern lights, the colourful radiance tickling her toes. A joyful thought wakes her up just as she’s about to touch a new emerged star. After crawling out of her pit, she tells Peter to get out of his bed, because today they’re going on an adventure! Just like me in the mornings, Peter wants five more minutes in his pit. Aurora insists that he get up now, as her father is probably waiting for them to get ready and start their adventure. Peter is a guinea pig, Aurora’s best friend, and she takes him everywhere with her.

Once Peter is out of bed and after a bit of small talk, Peter asks if you’ve played adventure games before. He goes on to explain how to move, interact and drag items for crafting. Next you have a small intro where Rupert (your father) pops his head around the front door. He says today is the day we’ll see Aurora’s mother, but first he must fix the boat as the harsh winter has taken its toll on the boat. He has most things packed but there’s still something which needs collecting and there’s a list pinned to the wall.

The items required can be found scattered around the house and outside in the garden. The items can be in plain sight or hidden.  Some items will need to be crafted using various items, like the fishing rod and bait, which will require you to craft and combine different items. Moving your cursor over somewhere may give you some options, Magnifying Glass (view items), Hand (take or use) and Speech Bubble (talk). If you’re struggling to find something, in the top right-hand corner is a hints button which will reveal the items that you can view or use. If you find yourself unsure on what to do next, you can ask either Peter or Rupert and they may be able to help you.

After you have found all the items you need, you’ll need to select them from your backpack and drop them on the front door (on the first level). Rupert will then take the items from you, and for each correct item, you give him a star that will then make its way in the heavens. Once you have given Rupert everything then your adventure begins, and you move on to the next level.

The next level is you crossing the sea in a Viking ship; instead of finding items you’ll need to steer the ship safely over the sea. This will be done by clicking on the windy clouds which will give a gust of wind, allowing you to move forward. There are also dangers on the seas; huge waves or thunderstorms can damage your ship before you make landfall. To avert these dangers, you’ll need to click on them as you would with the windy clouds. Clicking on a thunderstorm will dissipate the lightning, which needs to be done before it’s over your ship. Clicking on a huge wave will take the wave under your ship so that it doesn’t do any damage; timing is important if you want to make it across the sea in one piece.

There isn’t much in the way of settings; on the main menu screen you’ll find Language (English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Italian). You’ll find Save, Load and Return to Main Menu screen options by selecting the Cog icon in the top left corner while in game.

It’s quite a nice little game with nice artwork and music. I think anyone who likes point-and-click games should enjoy playing this game.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!