It's another chilly day in the frigid mountainous north-lands. As seems to happen so often, an errant gust of wind has blown your family away from the safety of your cavern. With all the clanking machinery, dangerous lava pits, and mysterious ruins lying about, they could be just about anywhere. Yet... a icy wind is blowing and the fire is never as warm when you sit by it alone. And so you tighten the hood of your parka and set out for adventure. After all, protecting the sibs is what a Brother is supposed to do, right? This quirky new point-and-click puzzle game from Luke Thompson may have an arctic aesthetic, but it has a very warm heart indeed.
Using the mouse, you must click your way about the mountain range, solving puzzles and collecting items with the ultimate goal of rescuing your family members. Clicked items can be manipulated or added to your inventory. Some puzzles have clear rules to be followed, while others require experimentation to proceed. The fires scattered about act as transporters, and can save you quite a bit of walking once they're lit. Above all, Brother is a game of exploration and observation, and it's hard not to be soothed by its measured pacing.
With its cute visuals and sedate atmosphere, Brother is reminiscent of Samorost, if with a more technical edge to its challenges. The frozen landscapes have a gorgeous sparseness and the plot, while minimalistic, is immediately gripping: invoking concern for a lost family may be an easy way to create drama, but it is undeniably effective. Some of the puzzles do tend to the brute force solution of "clicking everything to see what works", which is compounded by the distinct lack of documentation. It's relatively easy to suss out what your goals are through trial and error, but it's frustrating when a "help" button sends you to a YouTube video, rather than an instruction screen. Still, the parka-clad protagonists with their colorful garments and pictogram language have a distinct charm. Their adorableness may certainly cause you to feel that you owe it to them to solve every puzzle and bring them home. Overall, Brother has the appeal of a mug of hot cider at the end of a blustery day.
Walkthrough Guide
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Brother Walkthrough:
You can rescue your brothers in different orders, although some rescues must be completed before others.
First Rescue: Musical
Click on the circled area and watch the cutscene.
Click the branch twice to take it.
Go back inside the cave and get the yellow gem. Note the fire.
Go right to the bridge. Click on the white banner hanging to unfurl it and note the musical notes. You can click on the notes to hear what they sound like; note the colors they flash when you click them.
Continue right. Stand on the elevator and press the red button.
Click the sticks to light the fire.
Play the notes in accordance with the musical clue:
if they were numbered from left to right, 1, 1, 5, 5, 6, 6, 5.
Second Rescue: Water and Chains
Stand in the cage that the brother you just rescued was standing it and hit any musical note to go up.
Click the rock to send it flying and take the red gem hidden behind it.
Go down and down again to the gear area, then right.
Light the fire in the sticks.
Go right and adjust the ramp by hitting the plus sign so you can use the rock to hit the objects (by clicking and dragging the rock to launch, as if it were a giant slingshot). The correct heights are one click, three clicks, and four clicks.
Go right and enter the cave.
Hit the pumps in this order:
If they were numbered left to right, 1, 3, 5, 1, 3, 5, 3, 5, 3, 1, 3, 5
Third Rescue: Floating in Space
Take any fire by double clicking on it and go to the Brother area.
Ride the rope with the stick (you should have picked it up off the tree earlier) to the volcano.
Quickly click the green gem to grab it. If you miss, try again by lighting and using the fire in the volcano.
Go left, enter the puzzle, and click on the gems to make a path to the exit:
down, down, left, up, left, down, down, left, left
The best way to solve this next part is with the sound as a clue--it gets louder as you approach the right spot.
The right spot is in the lower left.
Double click the fire.
Fourth Rescue: Locked in the Dark
Go back up to the Brother area. Click on the H until it falls and makes a hole, then go through the hole.
Take the gear, then go through the fire to the bridge area and backtrack to the gear area.
Click on the halved gear ot make it hole.
Take the key and travel by fire back to the dark area.
Click on the caged area to rescue another brother.
Fifth Rescue: Five Gems
You should have all five gems by now. Go by fire to the cave with the gems hovering over it and your brother will exit automatically.
Sixth Rescue: Outrun the Volcano
Go back inside the volcano via fire and go right.
Click on the different platforms to make it so they are all forming a path.
Click the middle platform until it's all the way down, then click the right most one so it's all the way down, then click the second one, then the fourth one.
Go right. Since you've rescued your first five brothers, all the platforms will be lit up. Try to walk on them, and you'll fall.
As you fall, you'll come across a convenient umbrella. Click it to float down.
Now you have to run away from the volcano. Some are easiest to describe where to click via screen cap, others by describing.
First. Click the first and third dots.
Second. Click the left three of each color.
Third, click each column from top to bottom.
Fourth. Click the top left and the bottom right dot.
Fifth. This one is hard to describe in text. The barrier will lower with every correct dot.
Double click the fire and you win! Yay!
Posted by: joye
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September 13, 2011 1:54 PM