Charlie is a young boy who wants to play with his dog after he gets home from school.  But when she doesn’t want to play with him, he gets mad and storms off to his room.  Once there, Charlie is transported to a fantasy world where he must calm a grumpy volcano and help out other crazy creatures along the way.  Asfalia: The Cranky Volcano is a simple point and click adventure that kind of reminds me of those Humongous ones back in the 90s (Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, etc.).  It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

You move around Charlie with the left stick, and a cursor with the right stick.  But the cursor will automatically go to whatever you can click on and you can just cycle through those on screen most of the time.  It can be a little confusing but it still mostly works.  As you click on things, you’ll get stickers you can put in an album that you can view with the Y button.  When you collect items, you can press the X button to open a tool chest icon and see what you have, and you’ll automatically use them when you click on the right spots.

The game is cute and imaginative, but I did have a few problems with it.  The game is incredibly short and easy, and I was able to beat it in under two hours.  But like those Humongous games, this is probably meant for younger players.  It also lacks a bit of the charm those Humongous games had, and I think there’s supposed to be a lesson about controlling your temper here, but it gets lost along the way.  Still, this is a fairly decent title for point and click beginners.

Kid Factor:

Asfalia: The Cranky Volcano is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Mild Language.  I honestly didn’t notice any bad language, and violence just consists of characters bumping into each other, flying away in a popped balloon, or getting launched into the sky.  It’s all just silly stuff.  Reading skill isn’t needed as everyone has spoken voice.

Tags: Game Reviews