The Island of Earthly Delights
When a storm lands an airship sailor on a strange island and his friend isn't there when he regains consciousness, finding a way home is going to be even more difficult than you might already think since the residents of this place are more than a little... weird. A short but beautifully surreal point-and-click adventure with a case of odd logic but tons of personality.
Read More15 Comments
Don't try to walk too far left in the beginning. I tried to see if I could go further and got stuck off the screen. Tried saving and reloading and it completely froze the characters movements.
It's definitely pretty, but the lack of a changing cursor, combined with the completely illogical puzzles, makes this frustrating at best.
What BubbaJoe said. Looks like fun but the execution is terrible.
The Island of Earthly Delights Walkthrough
On The Beach
-
You should see a Small Stone cradled in a collection of larger stones, resting in front of a tree. Click the Small Stone to pick it up.
-
Click the Pink Flowers near the bottom of the screen to pick them up.
-
Click the furthest right large window. A curious ghost will pop out, then back in. Open your inventory and use your Compass on the window. You will give the Compass to the ghost. In return he will give you a Red Pipe.
-
Open your inventory, and combine the Pink Flowers with the Red Pipe.
-
Head around to the back of the building by going through the hidden alcove just to the right of the tree behind the rock pile. You should see a gardener tending his plants, and a ladder.
Going Up
-
Open your inventory and use the Small Stone on the bonsai plant that's on top of the wall. It will get knocked down and distract the gardener.
-
Use the ladder to climb onto the roof. You will see a Shackled Sweeper Spirit. Open your inventory and use the Pipe-with-Flowers with the fire on the back wall. Now the Pipe is lit.
-
Give the Lit Pipe-with-Flower to the Shackled Sweeper Spirit. He'll shake off his shackles and free his friends.
-
Pick up the Black Box with a Button that the Sweeper dropped.
-
Go down the ladder, back to the gardener you befuddled.
Hey Diddle Diddle
-
Once on the ground, click on the door to knock on it. Looks like a cat doesn't want to let you in.
-
Open the inventory and use the small Black Box on the small arched window above the door. While the cat is rocking out, grab the Magic Sock on his left-from-your-perspective leg.
-
Open the inventory and use the Magic Sock on the gardener's Spade. This will shrink it, allowing you to add it to your inventory. Use the magic sock again on the Hedge-Clippers to do the same.
-
Go back up on the roof.
-
Open your inventory, and use the Magic Sock on the Shackle. Now you have more capacity in your inventory.
-
Go back down the ladder, then around to the left, back to the screen where you started the game.
Sleeping on the Job
-
Head around to the left side of the castle. There will be a guard snoring against the door.
-
Open your inventory and use the hedge-clippers on the red-fruited bush. You will get a Red Fruit.
-
Click the stone right below the red-fruited bush. That stone looks hungry. Open your inventory and give the stone the Red Fruit.
-
Click on the stone again, and he will gesture to a spot right in front of him. Open your inventory and use the Spade on the spot the stone gestured. A Bird-and-Fish Totem will pop out.
-
Open your inventory and use the Black Box on the Totem. After a playful licking, you will get a Tongue Amulet.
-
Open your inventory. Use the clippers on the Tongue Amulet, to divide it into a Tongue and an Amulet. Combine the Tongue with the Shackle to make a... Tongued Shackle, I suposse.
-
Use the Tongued Shackle on the single flower floating in the water on the left of the screen. Huh. That was unexpected.
Thanks to Tricky for the walkthrough!
Ditto. The constant clicking on everything visible almost makes one forget that there's a storyline here. Somewhere.
I agree! I want to like this game much more than I actually do. I'm only four screens in and hopelessly stuck... And maybe it's just my monitor but-
After you throw the stone and click on the shovel, what the heck is the bearded dude doing with it?!? Maybe he was at sea too long, but buddy, you don't know where that shovel has been!
Hi wafflem!
It's just poking fun at how characters in adventure games seem to be able to carry everything regardless of how big it is. He's trying to fit it in his pocket. :) You get a similar animation if you try to have him pick up something heavy later on... he can't do it.
Buggy, buggy, buggy.
Got near the end, using the walkthrough, because the game is so counter-intuitive, and the last item I need never appeared in my inventory. I picked it up, and then it was gone.
I love these games. Kudos to the developer for creativity, and I hope you make more like this, but please do a little more beta testing on the next one.
It has already been said but... I really want to like this game. The artwork, sound and music are very, very good. But the puzzles are over the top bizzare for me. It needs a good dose of King's Quest logic to straighten it out. Get the pail, to fetch the water, to put the dragon's fire out... if you get my drift.
I love surreal and bizzare but this just isn't working for me.
Agree with everyone. Great sound and art, but there was no way I would have
clicked on the window in the first screen to meet the ghost nor would I have given him the compass either.
Some parts make sense, but most is trial by error.
I will echo what everyone else is saying. I'm a long-time point and click adventure fan, but "use everything on everything" should be the last resort of a stuck player, not the only way to solve puzzles.
Seriously, you should be able to solve puzzles by thinking about them and coming up with a solution, not by trying things until some combination you have no reason to try yield results you could never have predicted.
I agree with the puzzles not making any sense. I had to use the walkthrough on every step. That's too much. As for design, very beautiful. However, it would be improved if the moving and interactive characters stylistically fit in with the beautiful backgrounds. You have so much lovely design and texture in the environments, but then the moving characters were flat and a little like south park cutouts.
I agree too. Normally I would have stopped right away, but I played it through using the walkthrough because it was so gorgeous and so wonderfully odd. If only the puzzles were more intuitive, it would be great.
I guess "surreal theme" and "adventure genre" need very careful design if they are to mix up well.
Actions in adventure games follow certain logic, which can be the usual, everyday's one, or wacky and humorous like in Sam & Max games (where you still have cultural references to cartoon-logic to draw from.)
But surreal worlds full of unknown objects and creatures completely foreign for the player leave him at a loss for logical references, rules of behaviour, etc. Unless the developer manages to guide the player step by step into the world's own ruleset, or he draws clear parallelisms with more familiar worlds. Neither is achieved here.
To summarize, this game brings along its own set of mushrooms. It's difficult to get oneself to award it more than it has already :-)
Like everyone else said, very pretty game. I love the artwork and soundtrack. The puzzles are just too bizarre, though. Maybe that's what they were going for- you are dropped into a foreign world after all, maybe their logic isn't the same as ours. It's an interesting concept, but for the game to be playable, there needs to be some sort of explanation or hint system. Interacting with the creatures should give you at least some sort of hint as to what to do next.
Like the rock motioning to the ground, but a little less subtle.
That said, I can't wait for the other parts. The game reminds me a lot of Machinarium.
Oh, and I didn't get stuck anywhere, but the graphics did get a little wonky around the shackled monster. Half of me kept disappearing behind him.
Also, are you supposed to be able to interact with him before you give him the pipe? Because I couldn't.
Basically, what everyone else said.
Leave a comment [top of page]
Game of the week
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
The Island of Earthly Delights Walkthrough
On The Beach
You should see a Small Stone cradled in a collection of larger stones, resting in front of a tree. Click the Small Stone to pick it up.
Click the Pink Flowers near the bottom of the screen to pick them up.
Click the furthest right large window. A curious ghost will pop out, then back in. Open your inventory and use your Compass on the window. You will give the Compass to the ghost. In return he will give you a Red Pipe.
Open your inventory, and combine the Pink Flowers with the Red Pipe.
Head around to the back of the building by going through the hidden alcove just to the right of the tree behind the rock pile. You should see a gardener tending his plants, and a ladder.
Going Up
Open your inventory and use the Small Stone on the bonsai plant that's on top of the wall. It will get knocked down and distract the gardener.
Use the ladder to climb onto the roof. You will see a Shackled Sweeper Spirit. Open your inventory and use the Pipe-with-Flowers with the fire on the back wall. Now the Pipe is lit.
Give the Lit Pipe-with-Flower to the Shackled Sweeper Spirit. He'll shake off his shackles and free his friends.
Pick up the Black Box with a Button that the Sweeper dropped.
Go down the ladder, back to the gardener you befuddled.
Hey Diddle Diddle
Once on the ground, click on the door to knock on it. Looks like a cat doesn't want to let you in.
Open the inventory and use the small Black Box on the small arched window above the door. While the cat is rocking out, grab the Magic Sock on his left-from-your-perspective leg.
Open the inventory and use the Magic Sock on the gardener's Spade. This will shrink it, allowing you to add it to your inventory. Use the magic sock again on the Hedge-Clippers to do the same.
Go back up on the roof.
Open your inventory, and use the Magic Sock on the Shackle. Now you have more capacity in your inventory.
Go back down the ladder, then around to the left, back to the screen where you started the game.
Sleeping on the Job
Head around to the left side of the castle. There will be a guard snoring against the door.
Open your inventory and use the hedge-clippers on the red-fruited bush. You will get a Red Fruit.
Click the stone right below the red-fruited bush. That stone looks hungry. Open your inventory and give the stone the Red Fruit.
Click on the stone again, and he will gesture to a spot right in front of him. Open your inventory and use the Spade on the spot the stone gestured. A Bird-and-Fish Totem will pop out.
Open your inventory and use the Black Box on the Totem. After a playful licking, you will get a Tongue Amulet.
Open your inventory. Use the clippers on the Tongue Amulet, to divide it into a Tongue and an Amulet. Combine the Tongue with the Shackle to make a... Tongued Shackle, I suposse.
Use the Tongued Shackle on the single flower floating in the water on the left of the screen. Huh. That was unexpected.
Thanks to Tricky for the walkthrough!
Posted by: Dora Breckinridge
|
February 21, 2013 11:27 AM