#gamecity

We passed through a largely empty hallway to get to one of the other rooms and, tucked away in a half-lit corner, was this. A large green carped with a dozen pillows and nothing else. The ominous image of a certain pool filled with rotund objects invaded my mind.

Ah but to avoid or perhaps incite confusion, someons had made sure to haphazardly throw a paper on the floor which, upon reading, did not exactly make it clear whether it was an honest description or an ironic art installation. It read: "Nook with seating area. 4x4. 229 fir."

At the Game City 2019 in Vienna, I had the opportunity to try out several games of different genres, topics, age groups and producers. Despite the vast range of extremely popular games, a small production called “Children of Lumera”, located in the Indie area, caught my attention.

The game was developed by Phantom Fox Interactive, an Indie video games company from Vienna. The team only consists of 3 young but highly motivated members. Founded in 2018, Phantom Fox has always been focused on storytelling. Their first project, Children of Lumera, was in fact intended to be a children's book at first but became an interactive adventure game for people of all age groups. At the moment, there´s only a demo version available but they intend to release the final game in early 2021. The game will be available in German and English. 

I played the demo version on PC, but after the official release it will also be available for Switch, Mac, IOS and Linux.

Children of Lumera is a single player fantasy adventure game. It was originally designed for children but the final game should attract young as well as older players. It could be classified as 8+. (PEGI 7+, ESRB Everyone, no descriptors)

Since the game is based on a children's fantasy novel, the genre could be defined as Action/Adventure, but due to its point & click structure it also has some puzzle elements.

The game also provides some educational benefit, such as motor skills, decision making and most importantly: social and cultural values and skills.

Talking about the gameplay itself, it should be noted that I would classify myself as an intermediate gamer who occasionally plays games. But now let's take a deeper look at the story behind the game. 

Children of Lumera tells a tale about the so called Alven children, who had the power to form reality with their dreams. But some day, one of them destroyed the balance and now the folk and their magic is nearly forgotten. The main character of the game is a girl named Elo who lives in a small village called Slumber Deep. Throughout the game, you have to guide Elo through her fantastic and magical world by pointing and clicking objects and fulfilling tasks. 

You start your journey at Elo´s little hometown and explore her universe by clicking where you want to go and who you want to talk to. The graphics and the atmosphere of the game are extremely beautiful and nicely done. The sound design matches the magical playing environment and gives you a nice gaming experience.

Since I only played the demo version, I can't talk about all the features and the goals of the game in detail, but it already seemed quite promising. I didn't come across any great issues, but I could imagine that the rather slow walking pace of the main character could hinder a smooth gameplay. Additionally, I didn't understand the decision making feature at first. But once your into the game, that shouldn't bother you anymore and after a few minutes, you are able to play the whole game with all its features. Children of Lumera is designed as a completed story but can be paused at the different stages of the game. The learning process can be achieved in small periods of time.

The game can be used for educational purposes in elementary school but also at home to teach children cultural, creative, cognitive and motoric skills as well as encourage their fantasy and strengthen their social interaction.

The producers of the game said that they want to release several episodes of the tales but also print a children's book. The final version will be available in early 2021.

- Valerie

Report Game City Wien - The Gardens Between

As curious otters we are always motivated to get new things to play with. So we went together to the Game City in Vienna. We love to play. Who doesn't?  

Game City Vienna

The Game City Vienna is the biggest fair for Games in Austria and takes place every year in the Vienna Cityhall. You can find there big companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment. For us otters the area with the Indie Games was the most interesting. There we found a game what we really liked and want to present to you, so we can share the fun.

The Gardens Between

The Game is called The Gardens Between from The Axel Agents. It is a game for Mac IOS and Controllers. It has no Voice output but you can choose between around 30 languages.

The Gardens Between is a single-player adventure-puzzle game about time, memory and friendship.

Best friends Arina and Frendt fall into a series of vibrant, dreamlike island gardens peppered with everyday objects from their childhood. Together they embark on an emotional journey that examines the significance of their friendship: the memories they’ve built, what must be let go, and what should never be left behind.

This Adventure game is created for everyone but you should be over seven years old.

Walkthrough

Eventhough otters love to play we have hardly ever played video games. So you have to say amateur to us, but we want to chance that. With The Gardens Between we found a game which is really fun and easy to play. You can just control the time. You can go backwards and forwards and with that you move the two characters Adriana and Frendt. The friends have each one ability. Adriana can fill up her lantern which you need to get to the next lantern. Mostly you get the light from flowers. Frendt has the ability to open these flowers.

Through the path you have to be careful not to loose the light. There are obstacles such as black holes, which absorb the light.

Additionally, to the very kind story behind the game it also has such a nice design.