Old Man’s Journey

Genre: Graphic Adventure / Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Old Man’s Journey is a family-friendly Graphic Adventure game with some Puzzle elements released on PC and mobile devices in 2017 and brought to consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, in 2018. This game has players helping the game’s titular old man as he makes his journey across the countryside, with players interacting with the environment so he can continue his journey.

The presentation here is lovely, with beautiful hand-painted 2D artwork and a delightful acoustic soundtrack. What’s more, the game’s artwork is designed to be malleable and respond to your interactions, making the world feel alive instead of just static. Plus, as you go through the game, you’ll be treated to hand-painted slightly-animated still scenes as the old man reminisces about his past. The game’s story is told without words, so all of its plot is conveyed through these visuals.

The gameplay here is fairly simple, but manages to have enough variety in its 1-2 hour play time to stay interesting. Most of the gameplay involves using a cursor to grab the scenery, which players can stretch and move to make it easier for traversal. Players are unable to move the scenery the old man is standing on, so finding the way to move everything so he can move past forms much of the challenge here, though it’s not really all that much of a challenge. There are a few other ways players interact with the game, but this is it for the most part.

This game controls well with a gamepad, but the touchscreen in handheld mode is the ideal way to play it, giving players an even greater feeling of directly interacting with the game. Since this version includes both control methods, I’d argue that the Nintendo Switch is probably the best way to play the game.

As for negatives, there isn’t much I can complain about here. The game can be a bit slow-paced and as I mentioned, the puzzles aren’t very challenging. Also, the $10 price tag feels a bit high for such a short game.

Overall, Old Man’s Journey is a delightful Graphic Adventure game with a nice presentation. It’s a tad overpriced, and not a game that’s likely to stick with you after you’ve played through it, but if you like this sort of game you’ll likely enjoy your time with it.

tl;dr – Old Man’s Journey is a Graphic Adventure game with Puzzle elements that has you interacting with and moving around the environment to help an old man walk across the countryside. It’s short and not too challenging, and $10 seems a bit pricey for what’s on offer, but the presentation is lovely and the game is enjoyable while it lasts.

Grade: B-

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