Kongregate game makers have released a new “choose your own adventure” style mobile game that has players living a kind of virtual Gilligan’s Island. While the game has elements that are part rpg, part sim, part gamebook, all parts combined make an entertaining ensemble for those who like a little adventure and a good story to boot.
The story begins as “you” a group of three comrades named Mary, Jenny and Robert find yourselves shipwrecked on what is believed to be a deserted island. They are immediately tasked to explore the island. As they do, they discover new items to gather or harvest for resources they’ll need to feed, shelter and protect themselves against the unfamiliar environment.
Each of the characters has differing skill levels depending on his profession. For example, Mary is an engineer who’s great at building things, is a decent fighter but is not so good at exploring or foraging for supplies.
As you progress through the game, exploring, gathering resources and crafting various objects and buildings, you’ll unlock small pieces of the story line – which, if you haven’t tried it yet, is pretty darn entertaining. There is plenty of wit and humor in the story along with puzzles to solve and decisions to make that can shape the course of your adventure. You’ll yield rewards or consequences depending on how wisely you’ve chosen.
The further you go in the game the more complex and dangerous it becomes. You run into a few new survivors along the way to add to your party—which you’ll need – but they aren’t the only unfamiliar characters you’ll meet. In addition, you’ll find yourself coming face to face with nasty adversaries like badgers and alligators. You’ll then have to decide whether to battle them or run away. While running away can be a short-term option, if you want to keep moving forward in the game, you’ll have to face them eventually. At this point, monitoring survivor health and equipment will become important if you plan to succeed. If a survivor gets too low on health he’ll be taken out of the game for a number of hours as he rests up and heals. This can be pretty disheartening as you delve deeper into the game. The longer the party lives on the island, the more things they’ll need to build and create to survive. Crafting these things takes time, talent and resources -- none of which are easy to come by.
This is actually the one major downside I started to notice about ‘Tinker Island’. After a few hours of playing the tasks take much longer to complete and so the gameplay begins to slow to a turtle pace – unless of course, you’re willing to throw a ton of money into gems to speed things up. I’m hoping that in time, the developers will adjust the length of time required to complete various objectives or provide better in-app purchases packages so that players won’t lose momentum and interest.
Overall, the game is well thought out and truly enjoyable, but comes to a pretty numbing slowdown if you’re planning to participate as a free to play gamer. Still, if you enjoy the adventure genre, this is a game worth giving a go. It certainly kept me entertained.
You can download Tinker Island on iOS or Android devices for free in the Apple App and Google Play stores.
