Happily Ever After Video Game

The above is a trailer for a new fairy tale influenced video game, Happily Ever After.

From the game's webpage where you can also download a demo:

The game will be priced at £2.99 for iPad and £9.99 for PC and Mac

When a problem page blogger starts to receive a series of weird and puzzling requests for help, they track down the source and go to investigate, only to end up in the Kingdom of Unbelievaville! Stuck there, their only means of escaping being turned into a doornob by the evil queen, is to help out the local inhabitants who are familiar characters with very unfamiliar problems!

It contains over 100 puzzles stretched through 24 levels with multiple endings in story mode, and if that's not enough, the game contains a bunch of against-the-clock minigames.

Happily Ever After will be available this Autumn/Fall!

In the mean time, why not follow either of the player character's twitter feeds at @TheFGM or @TheBlogFather1 or check out the Kingdom of Unbelievaville dating site FrogSnog.com.

And more from the press release:

Leading UK independent developer, Honeyslug, in ration with publishing partner Boiled Frog, are delighted to announce the forthcoming release of their modern fairytale puzzle adventure with a twist, “Happily Ever After”. Due for release on iPad, Mac and PC in October 2011, priced at £2.99 on iPad and £9.99 on PC and Mac. The title is supported with PR, trailers http://www.vimeo.com/30180207 and playable demo (PC only) on all formats. These, together with screenshots, are available at www.Honeyslug.com/happilyeverafter or www.Boiledfrog.co.uk.

Happily Ever After is a humorous puzzle adventure game which takes place in the contemporary fairytale Kingdom of Unbelievaville. After receiving a series of strange emails to your problem solving blog you find yourself trapped in the Kingdom. Following a hostile encounter with the Evil Queen, your only way home is to help out the cast of familiar fairytale characters with unfamiliar problems. These inhabitants include BB Wolff - the local smarmy, estate agent and apparent master of disguise, Goldilocks, a special girl with very particular tastes and an oafish, lazy prince who is charming only by name. Your adventure ends at the annual Unbelievaville “Know Talent” contest; will you find your way home or suffer the Evil Queen’s “hex” factor?

Happily Ever After is a hugely entertaining game, set over 24 levels with over 100 different puzzles. Players are set to enjoy many hours of gameplay with challenges including hidden object, logic games, mazes, spot the differences, riddles and more. With lavish comic book visuals, three fun arcade style mini games and a sparkling script penned by Childrens’ BBC script writer Hannah McKay, this title is sure to appeal to puzzlers and adventure game fans of all ages.

This one looks safer for younger kids--like 8 and up perhaps although I don't see an age recommendation, maybe even 5 although I think reading is needful--unlike make of the other video games featured on the blog previously which were definitely more adult.

Fairy Tales, Video Games and the Supreme Court

  

A small media frenzy has been centered around the Supreme Court's decision about regulating video games for children.

For example, from NPR, Weekly Standard: Violent Games Are No Fairy Tale by Jeffrey H. Anderson:

On Monday, in the case of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the Supreme Court struck down a California law prohibiting the sale of violent video games to children. In a 7-2 holding authored by Justice Antonin Scalia (with Justices Alito and Roberts concurring and Justices Thomas and Breyer dissenting), the Court ruled that video games enjoy essentially the same constitutional protection as books, with violent video games being, in Scalia's estimation, much like modern day Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Of course, there is very little similarity between reading (or, for that matter, watching film adaptations of) Snow White or Cinderella and deciding whether to murder, disembowel, or rape one's victim in a video game (all of which, as Justice Alito details, are features of some of these games). That the Court's majority fails to see this distinction shows how inapt it is to have that body engage in such line-drawing for an entire republic. Further demonstrating this, Scalia also compares such video games to The Odyssey, and he somewhat mystifyingly declares that literature and video games are similarly "interactive."

From the majority opinion by Scalia, available here:

Like the protected books, plays and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas—and even social messages—through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world),” Justice Scalia wrote. “That suffices to confer First Amendment protection.”

Certainly the books we give children to read–or read to them when they are younger–contain no shortage of gore. Grimm’s Fairy Tales, for example, are grim indeed. As her just deserts for trying to poison Snow White, the wicked queen is made to dance in red hot slippers ’till she fell dead on the floor, a sad example of envy and jealousy.’ . . . Cinderella’s evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves. . . . And Hansel and Gretel (children!) kill their captor by baking her in an oven.

Some other links:

At PBS: Citing Violence in Fairy Tales, Justices Strike Down Calif. Video Game Law

At the New York Times: Justices Reject Ban on Violent Video Games for Children by ADAM LIPTAK

At the Miami Herald: Justices don’t live in the real world by Cal Thomas

And Maria Tatar also posted about this on her blog.


I'm not jumping on the opinion train here--although I admit I have one as someone who works with kids and it is about to become obvious anyway--but I find no end of amusement that centuries old literature is being used to defend a very recent invention which is rather unrelated. Yes, both are graphic, but their means of delivery are so very different in intent and impact that it is almost disturbing to compare them. In other words, I read and deal with fairy tales most of the hours of my life but I can't stand to watch the violence of many of these games. Yes, I had a nightmare when working on Bluebeard, but that is the exception not the rule.

And, no, parents in my experience aren't usually sharing the most violent versions of fairy tales with the kids anyway. It's the high school and college students who learn that the tales are much more violent than they knew and feel like another level of their innocence has been eroded away at the discovery. Then they either beg for the violent ones--I get emails!--or run for familiar relative safety of the Disney versions although I contend those are much more violent than we admit.

Fables Will Be a Video Game

There's not much on the game company's site yet, but here's more info from Telltale Signs That Videogames Will Be Downloaded, Not Sold at Retail by Tricia Duryee:

But a small San Rafael, Calif.-based videogame company thinks it has the winning formula as the business moves to digital.

Today, Telltale Games is announcing an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to develop videogames for the comic-book series Fables...

Telltale’s games are written as a narrative or a cinematic adventure and are divided into five separate episodes. Players download a new one every four weeks for a six-month period. A season pass for a game, including all episodes, costs roughly $35.

Telltale then repeats the process and sells the games across a combination of consoles, mobile devices, tablets, PCs and Macs.

  

FarmVille and Fairy Tales

I've explained I'm not much of a gamer, but I am at least aware of FarmVille and know some people who play it. Last week's Farmville update included some limited time fairy tale themed bits. Since I can't explain more than that myself, here's an excerpt from FarmVille Fairy Tale Decorations: Prince and Princess Gnome, Enchanted Forest, & More by Brandy Shaul:

As part of tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release the Fairy Tale theme in the game, which contains (as of this writing) five different decorative items that you can use to decorate your farm like a fairytale wonderland. Two of these items go for coins (luckily, the most impressive decoration is one of them), while the other three decorations are premium, Farm Cash items.

The two coin items are the Enchanted Forest and the Golden Rose Arch. The Golden Rose Arch costs 10,000 coins, and looks exactly like most other arches in the game, save for its inclusion of golden roses. Meanwhile, the Enchanted Forest costs 200,000 coins, but might just be worth the high cost, as it is an animated item, with trees that drop multicolored leaves onto the colorful grassy area below.

The three new Farm Cash items are the Prince Gnome and Princess Gnome (obviously a matching pair), and a Pumpkin Carriage, a la the fairytale of Cinderella. The Pumpkin Carriage here, however, is a mixture of what the carriage looks like while Cinderella is using it at the ball, and after it turns back into the orange pumpkin it originated from. You can add this animated item (complete with moving horses and chinchillas) for 18 Farm Cash.

These Fairy Tale items will only be available in the game's store for the next two weeks. If Zynga adds more items to this theme in the meantime, we'll be sure to let you know.

This page also has images of the animated characters which are quite cute.

LittleBigPlanet and Hansel and Gretelbot

I try to keep informed about many areas of society out of fascination and plain old desire to participate in conversations in the real world. Discussing fairy tales doesn't really work well for me often in my time away from the computer unless I am at a conference meeting you dear readers.

However, one of my greatest knowledge base weaknesses is in gaming. I'm not a gamer. I play FreeCell and a few simple word and brainteaser games online. That's the extent of my playing besides some occasional social bouts with the Wii. (I had a slight addiction to Link's Crossbow Training for a few weeks last year. I finally mastered it and then my gaming obsession went away again.)

So when I read about and see things like this:



I am amused but slightly confused. I know LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2 are popular. That little guy is a familiar image. But that is where my experience ends.

So I am not going to try to explain how or what this Hansel and Gretelbot really is. I know it is part of LittleBigPlanet 2 and that is sufficient for my needs at this point although I say that and will probably spend the next half hour trying to figure all this out.

If you understand the game, this may make more sense to you. From LittleBigPlanet 2 – New Community-Created Playable Theme Coming Soon:

Hi guys – I’m sure that lots of you LBP fans out there have worked your way through the LBP 2 Story mode, confronted the mighty Negativitron, and are now exploring the intricacies of Create mode and the hundreds of thousands of new user levels.

If you’re hungry for some more Story mode-type Sack-venture, or looking for some creative inspiration and examples of just how powerful the new tools are, then here’s some very cool news for you, direct from Media Molecule…

We are very proud to present to you the preview trailer for Hansel & Gretelbot [see above], a very special community project based loosely on an old fairy tale, and that’s nearly ready for you to play!

 

 

Oh, and here is more about the actual story. I understand stories!

Once upon a time, in a little cottage on the edge of the Dark Western woods, lived a humble Woodsman, his wife, their son Hansel and robotic daughter Gretelbot. One sad day, the Woodsman’s wife was taken ill, and passed away not too long afterwards. Time passed, but eventually the Woodsman became stricken by loneliness, and he remarried.

The Woodsman’s new wife was a wicked woman, who hated her new step children. They were the reason, so she said, that they had to live in such poverty. They would eat them out of house and home, the Woodsman must get rid of them! His will weakened by his heartbreak, the Woodsman relented, and led Hansel and Gretelbot into the Dark Western Woods, leaving them to fend for themselves, with no idea how to get home…

Hansel & Gretelbot should be out later this month, keep your eyes peeled for more info!

Video Games: Storybook Workshop

As happens too often around here, I'm a little late on this one since it was released this past November. However, here it is!

Storybook Workshop is a new game for the Wii aimed at the preschool set. First, here's a trailer from Konami, the maker:



And further product information from Amazon:

Synopsis

Including 16 famous children's fairy tales, Storybook Workshop offers plenty of make-believe fun. Reminisce on your own childhood story time as you read well-known favorites such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling and The Golden Goose. Read in your own voice, or use the Magic Voice feature to change your voice to sound like characters from the stories. You can also sing along to four classic children's songs and record them, so boys and girls can listen to the performances on their own.

Key Game Features:

Features 16 children's fairy tales to listen to or perform, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, The Town Musicians of Bremen, Be Kind to the Earth, The Boy Who Went to the North Wind, The Little Match Girl, The Happy Prince, The Giant Turnip, A Glove and Hats for the Jizos, Three Wishes, The Star Money, The Elves and the Shoemaker, and The Golden Goose

Serves as an interactive book with fairy tales from around the world written by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Aesop and other famous authors

Play mini games and sing along to four classic children's songs

Record readings as well as the songs you perform in Singalong mode

Change your voice to match that of a fairy tale character with the Magic Voice feature

Earn rewards the more you read, such as the ability to feature your Mii in select stories

Virtual sticker pad helps track progress

So far, the reviews are limited and mixed. I think, as always, this type of game depends on the players using it and what they expect from it. As a tool for interacting with children with stories, it should be somewhat satisfactory. (Although I prefer an actual book myself!) As a tool for teaching literacy, not so much, which some parents seemed to think it would do. After all, the game is actually aimed at the pre-reading set.

I find the game interesting and would love to try it with a child, but am not going to buy it to test it. I have some of my own ideas about what would make a great fairy tale video game after all of the reading I've done this past year. And I am not a gamer although I admit the Wii has gotten me to play more than any other previous system. Current favorites: Just Dance and Wii Sports Resort...

Video Games: Big Brain Wolf

Okay, here's a video game I'm tempted to download because these are my preferred type of games--I've actually played Big Brain Academy and My Word Coach on the Wii more than any other console games in my life--so perhaps at some point I will get this to play. I like brain teasers and puzzle and logic games.

Publisher's description:

Big Brain Wolf is a hilarious point and click adventure game for puzzle lovers. The player takes upon the role of an asthmatic vegetarian wolf studying to become a genie. In the course of his adventures the player will encounter a large cast of famous funny characters and solve sixty different puzzles. Six neuroscientist designed highly replayable brain training exercises will earn the player precious hints to help solve the more difficult puzzles.

60 Different challenging puzzles and enigmas to solve

20 Puzzle filled scenes spanning a 5 chapters captivating story

A funny new take on universal characters that will appeal to all

6 brain training exercises designed and approved by the neuroscientists of Brain Center International

10 Original STEAM achievements

Great original soundtrack by a jazz quartet

Here are some articles:

Puzzle game Big Brain Wolf takes the 'bad' out of the Red Riding Hood story by Nellie Johnson

The game is mainly a wink-wink nudge-nudge version of the Red Riding Hood story but throws in other familiar fairy tale characters like the seven dwarves and the three little pigs for good measure. In this fractured fairy tale, the Big Bad Wolf isn't bad at all—in fact, he hates eating people and if he had his way, would sit around all day playing chess and eating boca burgers.

Against his will, he's pulled into an adventure through the course of which, he'll (read: “you'll”) have to solve over sixty puzzles and engage in six brain-training exercises. Get those brain cells ready because the exercises in BBW (which are designed to sharpen specific brain functions) were designed in collaboration with the neuroscientists of Brain Center International, who are responsible for the famous NeuroActive Program.

Big Brain Wolf Now Available on Steam: Geeky, vegetarian wolf stars in a puzzle-filled point and click adventure.

With a cast of familiar characters, including Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, and the Seven Dwarves, Big Brain Wolf gives a modern twist to all of your favorite tales!

A classic point and click adventure, Big Brain Wolf takes players through a fantastical world as a not so big, not so bad asthmatic vegetarian wolf studying to become a genie. This humorous tale has players solving sixty unique puzzles while trying to untangle a sordid murder mystery. To add another layer to the game, Frima Studio teamed up with the neuroscientists of Brain Center International to develop six fun brain training exercises for Big Brain Wolf. Completing these exercises will grant players useful hints to help them solve the game's hardest puzzles while also sharpening essential mental functions like memory, processing speed, decision making, and multitasking.

Big Brain Wolf is available now on Steam for $9.99. A downloadable trial is also available at Big Brain Wolf's official website.

And note that Little Red Riding Hood is in another video game. She really is the queen of the video game world when it comes to fairy tales.

No sales affiliations on this game folks, just news. There rarely are affiliations unless there are Amazon links. If I buy and try it out, I will post about it again.

A Lyndon Wicked Tale: Red Rage

Okay, I admit it. I'm ready for a new fairy tale based video game that DOESN'T feature Little Red Riding Hood. I don't even play them, but this girl has a monopoly that needs some competition.

But while we're waiting for that to happen, this one is available for iPhones for 99 cents.

A Lyndon Wicked Tale: Red Rage

Little Red Riding Hood is a familiar story told to children at an early age. While it may be a child's tale, nothing can mask the adult tones and the deep-seeded darkness it embodies. Little Red Riding Hood is about a girl in peril being stalked by a cunning and conniving wolf. Family members get eaten, the villain tricks the heroine, and the wolf is ultimately eviscerated.

A Lyndon Wicked Tale: Red Rage

As is the case with all fairy stories, there are various versions of Little Red Riding Hood.

Sometimes granny hides in the cupboard, sometimes the woodsman has to slice open the wolf pull out granny's corpse.

There's probably even some exotic versions in which the wolf and Red Riding Hood live happily ever after by continuing to claim granny's pension.

We've yet to hear to a version where Red tools up with axes and dynamite and takes on the wolves, before moving on to wipe out various forms of vampires though.

Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ

'Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ' (NDS) Coming to Europe. The game was released in North America a year ago--long before this blog came into existence--and I thought I'd give it a post at least since I admit that video games using fairy tales fascinate me, even though I am not a gamer.

Our story begins with the invasion of this fairy tale land by hordes of ravenous zombies. And they won’t stop at anything: from the succulent legs of ham of the Three Little Pigs to the sawdust brain of Pinnochio, they are all tasty morsels for the living dead. Grotesque aberrations plague the enchanted forests. Prince Charmings wake up Sleeping Beauties with a real love bites and ferocious wolves die when they attack abandoned little girls. Only one heroine can stop this babbling army. Her name is Red, Little Red Riding Hood, and now she’s armed and dangerous!

But she will not be alone: Momotaro, the peach boy who’s recently arrived from Japanese folklore, will join her on this dangerous crusade. But… what powers and secrets does this legendary character hold?

Zombie BBQ is a really fun shooter for NDS, where you have to move forward by shooting down every living (or dying) creature in your path! Use the great arsenal of weapons at your disposal to do away with the savage hoards of zombies. Shoot, blast, massacre, bombard and burn your enemies to the bone with a simple touch of your stylus on the console screen. Can you save fairy tale land or will you let its creatures live an unhappy-ever-after-life?

You can view the game trailer on YouTube here. I'm not embedding it since it is rather more graphic than I usually show here without warning.

You can also read more about the game on Amazon at Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. Alas, it is only available on Nintendo's DS platform.

And, yes, Little Red Riding Hood makes the rounds in the video game world. She's in Fairytales Fights, The Path and this one. If she were real, she'd be rich with how often she appears in products. She's rather the publicity hound of the fairy tale realm.

And what is up with the zombie trend these days? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith or The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies by H.G. Wells and Eric S. Brown? I can understand the vampires and werewolves more--at least they converse--but zombies, well, they are just icky. I do understand the humor, but I cannot imagine this trend going on as long as the others.

I infinitely prefer steampunk which I am just beginning to delve into myself. More about that soon, too.

More about The Path

I've posted about the video game, The Path, previously but perhaps the best review I've read so far was just published this week, so I though I would share the link: The Path review by Eric Keihl.

I'll quote his conclusion here which he provided after a helpful and detailed description of the game and its play.

I really can't tell you much more than that, especially since the game's story is so deliberately designed to be open to individual interpretation. Is it a cautionary tale about the dangers facing young women in modern society, or simply a twisted version of a fairy tale designed to keep you awake at night for fear of your own imagination? However you choose to look at it, The Path is a truly unique experience, and a great example of how video games can (if only rarely) do horror right. While it might be considered a little light on content, for $10 on Steam it's an absolute steal, and I'd highly reccomend it to anyone who likes their games a little on the esoteric side.

Everybody Was Fairytale Fighting

So my original post on Fairytale Fights has been quite popular. More press releases and leaks are taking place although embargoes on reviews are in effect until August 19th or there abouts. Still, there is a new trailer--beware very graphic cartoon violence--available for your viewing, well, knowledge. I'm embedding it below.

I'm not a gamer, especially not this type, but I'm fascinated with the timing of this game, released before Christmas and before the release of several fairy tale animated feature films in the next year. I want to see how this is received and reviewed by gamers, one of the choosiest and critical groups I've ever come across. Will it be a hit? A miss? Or somewhere in between? The buzz is fascinating with complaints that Gingerbread Men bleed in the trailers instead of crumble although they are supposed to crumble in the actual game, rest assured.

I have to admit I'm tempted to at least rent the game to see it in action on our Xbox 360 but the machine might run away in horror since it's used primarily for playing NCAA Football. There's not much role-playing or non-sports violence in my domain beyond the traditional fairy tale stuff, excepting what does appear on SurLaLune. :)

And no, I'm not entering the debate over video game violence. Not going there today. My interest is purely observational. This game does have a high maturity rating, so let that be your guide.

And if the video does intrigue you, the game is available for preorder for its November 10th release through Amazon and other sites. (Here are links to various platforms if you're interested: PS3, XBox 360, Windows.)

The Path Video Game

Little Red Riding Hood, that versatile girl, is appearing in a new, unsual video game that was featured on NPR's All Things Considered this week. You can read the article at: On 'The Path,' Everything A Big Bad Wolf Could Want by Heather Chaplin

The game itself is interesting, not one I have ever read about, but it definitely won't be for everyone since it goes beyond light escapist entertainment and unabashedly calls itself a horror game. However, it sounds like it can be an empowering experience for players interested in it.


The point of the game is to face the wolf and deal with him, facing the dangers of girlhood and womanhood, often very real ones. In my mind, after exploring the links, I thought of it as the female version of Call of Duty, one of the video games that is too real and can be traumatic for veterans. The Path uses Little Red Riding Hood to recognize and confront the dangers of everyday living for girls.

"I think we've succeeded in making a game that's about the player," says Samyn [one of the game's creators]. "What's frightening about it is the confrontation with your own interpretation of things, and probably realizing that they're your own."

The official game site is here: The Path. The game is available for either Windows or MAC platforms.

In case you're wondering if it might be too dark, the makers have this warning on it:

For Ages 15+. While The Path does not contain any graphic violence or sexuality, it does allude to these themes. The overall melancholy mood of the game and the potentially unsettling course of events, make The Path unsuitable for children.

Video Games: Fairytale Fights

Oh me, oh my. Fairytale Fights is a new video game to be released for multiple platforms on November 10, 2009 just in time for the holiday season. The game was announced at E3 and is now available for preorder through Amazon and other sites. (Here are links to various platforms if you're interested: PS3, XBox 360, Windows.)

Here's the official game description from PlayLogic:

Explore the darker side of your favorite fairytale characters in this Hack'N'Slash gore-fest platform adventure! Fairytale Fights is a truly twisted hack'n'slash platform adventure where players assume the role of a much-loved fairytale character (Little Red Riding Hood, Jack & The Beanstalk, The Naked King or Snow White), whose glory days have long since passed. While embarking on a seemingly innocent journey to save a colorful fantasy world from certain disaster, players traverse a series of colourful and enthralling levels filled to the brim with action-packed combat and fairytale-style storylines. Luckily, many different weapons lay strewn throughout the fairytale kingdom, which players can use to slice and dice their way through swathes of cute fluffy bunnies and imposing enemies.

I'm guessing the Naked King is the Emperor from Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes. If so, this is the first time I know of him being used in a video game of this nature. I'm rather fascinated by the concept, I admit. I would have imagined another character instead, perhaps Puss in Boots or even Hansel or the Frog King.

If you want to read more about the game play--I'm not a big game player so I'm only half literate in that language--visit Playstation Life's review at: Fairytale Fights: Putting a Demonic Twist on Your Childhood. The characters are funny although only the girls have been released so far.

I'm curious to see how this game sells and is received. I'm not going to debate the violence discussion that may arise. Fairy tales are quite bloody and to me make a rather obvious choice for video game violence, if one is into that kind of stuff. More than anything I am amused and bemused by the game. Of course, this violence is quite different, but I'm interested to see what the game play is like.