"Cookies crunch, are you listening? In the gorgeously illustrated world, snow is glistening. A kid-friendly game, how happy we... am?, playing Yuki in Winterland." Hmm. Maybe my song-writing needs work. Or maybe I should try to be more like this largely non-verbal point-and-click adventure story from FlashTeam. Well, it worked to tell the story of an adorable little girl on a cookie-delivering quest, but my review of it sadly must use words.
Don't expect a fiendish challenge if you're a veteran escape artist or adventure gamer. This is more in the league of Halo & Pixy and other linear point-and-click games primarily intended for children. Sometimes Yuki in Winterland even indicates where to click. It sidles right up to that "interactive storybook" line, but doesn't quite cross over into it, thanks in part to a few mini-games, such as a stealth game where you must hide from a yeti-thing and a snowboarding game where you must avoid obstacles. Even their difficulty is minimal however. This is a game that any six-year-old with a mouse can play without getting frustrated. Look for obvious or only place to click, click on it. Rinse and repeat, enjoying the soothing sounds of birds and music and the eye-catching designs.
There's a sinister underbelly to all this picture book scenery and big-eyed cuteness, however. Yuki seems to have a fairly... unique sense of morality. Most fairytale heroines behave just as their creators think little girls ought to, whether that's the traditional sweet and demure damsel or the modern I'll-rescue-myself-thanks type. In either case, the heroine generally tries to help the innocent, and if she fails to, she's called out on it and we are meant to learn from her mistake.
It isn't that Yuki is relentlessly evil or sadistic, since she does help several creatures along the way. She's amoral rather than immoral, helping mostly inasmuch as it furthers her own goals and displaying a disturbing willingness to commit mayhem on innocent bystanders, often in situations where it's completely unnecessary. Couldn't Yuki have first tried asking the stranded passenger for his chewing gum, rather than throwing a stick and causing his dog to drag him helplessly over the ice, so as to allow her to steal it from him? Her expressions remain generally serene, whether she's kindly defrosting a wizard or cruelly ripping a worm from a bird's beak. I was expecting at any minute for her to stare directly into my soul and begin intoning in a guttural voice, "Foolish humans! Yuki does not share your pathetic concepts of 'right' and 'wrong'. Now that you have outlived your usefulness, Yuki will destroy you!"
Ah well. At least she'd look darn cute doing it. This would be a great game to play with a child, unless you've noticed any sociopathic tendencies in the kid. If you decide to take the risk, I'd like to say firmly that we here at JayIsGames are not responsible for any bloodbaths and/or book reports on Nietzsche that may result. You have been warned.
Walkthrough Guide
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Yuki in Winterland Walkthrough:
Click on Yuki to wake her up and read the letter.
Click the oven.
Click the cat.
Click the matches.
Click the oven.
Click the fighting bird and mouse.
Click the arrow.
Click the bird.
Pick up the stick.
Click the man with the dog.
Click the chewing gum.
Give the chewing gum to the bus driver.
Click the bus twice.
Click the arrow.
Click the purple man.
Play the "snow battle" minigame and click to fire snowballs at the snowman. Avoid getting hit.
Click the purple man to get a balloon.
Click on Yuki to pop the balloon and get a string.
Click the gear hanging on the string of prizes.
Click the arrow, and then click the arrow again.
Click the bus.
Click the arrow.
Click the children.
Click the door of the left-hand house.
If you click on the fly at any point, you'll wake the bear and have to start over.
Click the long forked pole.
Click the string of objects.
Click the barrel.
Click the carrot.
Click the oven.
Click the arrow.
Click the children.
Click the right-hand door.
Click the remote twice and change it to the weather report.
Click the green bottle.
Click the coffee machine.
While the rabbit is fixing the coffee machine, click the key.
Click the door.
Click the stick.
Minigame: jump over the objects to get to the right hand side of the screen by clicking.
Minigame: get the pies (in the lower right) and the key (in the middle right) and exit out the door (top right). The purple fog passages connect with each other, as do the blue fog passages. Click on ladders to travel and on Yuki to hide from the yeti. Click on the key and pies to pick them up. If he catches you, you start over. You can't hide while you're on a ladder, so be careful.
Click on the fishing pole.
Click on the bird.
Click on the hole in the ice.
Click on the pelican.
Click on the right-hand handle.
Click on the candies.
Click on the bird three times.
Click on the sled.
Minigame: move your mouse to avoid obstacles and get down the hill.
Click on the guard.
Click on the bucket.
Click on the clump of snow.
Click on the heating device in the hut to melt the snow.
Click on the wizard.
Click on the teapot.
Click on the plant.
Take the wand and give it to the wizard.
Click the arrow.
Minigame: click on balls of light to charge the wizard's special attack.
You win!
Posted by: joye
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March 10, 2011 6:16 PM