Pastel Games' latest release walks an adorably cuddly line between the point-and-click and interactive art genres. Using the same kind of squishy cartoony art as their earlier Great Escape series but in a more directly kid-oriented way, the game will certainly not meet your needs if you're looking for a Submachine-esque challenge. But if you're willing to think of this as a cute Flash cartoon that you occasionally help along, or even better, if you've got a little kid to play the game with you, you'll love helping Pixy rescue his tree-stranded kitten in Halo & Pixy.
If you're a veteran point-and-clicker, the controls will be straightforward, but for any bright-eyed kidlets in the audience, you use the mouse to click on various parts of the screen. You can tell that something can be clicked on because it will change from the regular arrow cursor to the hand cursor. Items you pick up will go to your inventory, at the bottom of the screen. You can hover over the objects there to see what they are, and certain objects can be clicked on to examine them. The only object combining in this game will be explicitly asked for by the game with a "combine objects" command. You'll know it when you see it. Most of the time, you use the right objects automatically by clicking on the areas where they would be used.
I'm not a coder, but there doesn't seem to me to be any inherent reason why the game couldn't have had two difficulty modes, "kid" and "general". As is, the game is firmly in the kid camp. The game is entirely linear, and you can't pick up objects until you actually need them. You're also given obvious clues as to what to do next at every step. The only way this game could get any easier is if it employed sparklies or flashing arrows over where you were supposed to click next.
That said, the game clearly is not intended as a challenge to the elite escape addict. If you know that you're going to whine and feel dissatisfied if a game is too easy, just don't play this one. It's really too bad though, because you're going to miss some of Pastel Games' most charming animation yet from artist Kamil Kochanski. I'm not sure how they manage to make little Pixy so expressive when his face is literally nothing but eyes, but his adorable earnestness completely won me over. No, this game won't provide the satisfaction of beating a challenge. But it can provide a totally different kind of mood lift from its childlike sweetness. Go into it with that frame of mind, and you won't be disappointed.
Walkthrough Guide
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Halo & Pixy Walkthrough
Pick up the paper on the right side of the screen.
Click down to go to the hall.
Click the bedroom door on the left.
Pick up the crayon on the floor next to Pixy.
Go back to the living room by clicking down within the hall (the bottom of the screen).
Click on the easel to get Plan A.
Click on Plan A in the inventory to view it.
Go outside by going to the hall and clicking on the red upper door.
Click on the boxes to pick them up and stack them.
Click on the easel to get Plan B.
Click on Plan B within the inventory to view it.
Go outside.
Pick up the large blue stone.
Click on the convenient stick see-saw contraption already in place.
Click on the easel to get Plan C.
Click on Plan C to view it. This time you need to collect several items.
Go to the hall and click the cabinet.
Click the cabinet to open it.
Click the bandage tape.
Go to the bedroom.
Pick up the railroad track, the curtain rod, both rollerskates, and the left-side of the bunk bed ladder.
Click on Plan C to view it and click "combine items".
Click on the easel to get Plan D.
Click on Plan D to view which items are necessary.
Go outside.
Pick up two sticks and the laundry from the line.
Click on Plan D and click "combine items".
Wait for Halo to rescue you. ^_^
Posted by: joye
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January 25, 2011 2:31 PM