What is Bothering Carl?
Verdict: cute and nostalgic
In a Nutshell: Interactive story book about a kid cyclops that includes a memory game and music videos. This was one of the 2009 PAX10.
“What is Bothering Carl? is the tale of a young cyclops named Carl whose laid back attitude is disrupted by a single nuisance. Readers will discover Carl’s dilemma and follow along as he tries to solve his problem in this colorful interactive adventure.”
- Fun Rating: Fun
- ESRB: n/a
- Players/Mode: single-player
- Game Duration: Book takes about 20 minutes to watch, memory games play in about 5-10 minutes.
- System: Wii
- Developer: Story Fort
- Website: http://www.storyfort.com/~stryfrt/what-is-bothering-carl/
- Cost: $9.99 from the developer’s site
- Demo: available from the developer’s site
| Would I play this again? | Yes |
| Would I recommend this game? | yes, especially to families with young children |
| Was the story good? | yes |
| Was the music good? | yes |
| Were the graphics good? | yes |
| Was this game difficult? | only the memory games |
| Was this game frustrating? | not in the slightest |
| Was this game offensive? | not at all |
| Was this game worth your time/money? | yes |
Playing the game
Click your way through the book as the story is read and, at some points, sung to you. Moving the cursor over some images will cause the cursor to change color, indicating there’s an animation to see by clicking.
Once you’ve finished the story, enjoy a nice game of memory and see how well you do. Click on two cards and if they match, you can click on two more. If not, it’s the AI’s turn.
What the game gets right
This is a fun book, through and through. The artwork is terrifically charming and really draws you into the story. The songs are clever and catchy and the narration was a very nice addition and you can hear that the narrator likes kids.
I had forgotten how hard, and fun, memory games are. The addition of this basic game was a tasty icing on the delightful cake . . .book . . . (Kids, don’t eat your books. They don’t taste like cake.)
What the game gets wrong
Pointer only changes colors to indicate something to click which seems a little too subtle. Maybe I’m just too used to the pointing finger on websites, though.
Sum it up
After not playing them in a very long time, the memory game is hard! But the difficulty is only a slight curve and levles off once your brain remembers how to play these. Definitely give this one a try and let me know what you, and especially your younger kids, think of it.
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What is Bothering Carl?
Developer: Stroy Fort
Carl is a mighty, mighty cyclops but something has him terribly vexed!">
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