December 16

December 16, 1996

The Neverhood

I don't normally use this space to pitch a product, but since the election ended I can't seem to come up with much to talk about. All the currently hot political issues for me are local. And since (I think) most readers of this column aren't Cedar Rapidians, I try to keep that to a minimum.

The other day I read an article in Business Week about a group of kids who formed a little software company and started selling ideas to Dreamworks (the Microsoft/Disney/Spielberg studio). They created an adventure game something like Myst in which you find yourself in a strange new world and no idea of why your there. There's obviously a mystery to solve but you don't even know what it is when you start out. You wander about the new world, collecting clues by solving puzzles.

What's kind of cool is that all the of the animation is clay-mation. The sets and characters were built from three tons of clay and photographed at 15 frames per second. The result is like Gumby on drugs.

The game is ESRB rated at age 13+ but other than a couple scary monsters (which didn't shake my four-year-old) there's not much violence in this game. No language or other questionable issues. OK, there are a couple of cute little sheep-like creatures who are squashed in unfortunate accidents, but it's not like you blast 'em or anything.

A review on MSNBC's The Site said that the puzzles were too challenging for anyone under 17. My eleven-year-old is not having any trouble with this game. But then I guess they probably mean 17 public-school-years-old.

The thing that attracted by attention to the game is that the author claims at least some degree of Christian testimony. The game is about good vs. evil; truth vs. lies. If you're good and pay attention to what you know is true, you win the game.

You can get an idea of the style of the game at their web site: www.neverhood.com.