Young boy Charlie is in the park playing with his new puppies (I’m guessing this is the sequel to the last game I reviewed).  But all of a sudden, a storm brews in and scares the puppies away. Charlie gives chase, only to find himself lost in a forest that leads him to a fantasy world.  He sees puppy tracks leading to a huge mansion, so now he must find a way in and help out a bunch of crazy creatures along the way.  Asfalia: Panic at the Mansion 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.

Unfortunately I can’t recommend this game in its current state, as I encountered a game breaking bug about halfway through.  After slicing through a cheese door, I came to a place that was completely dark and wouldn’t let me do anything.  This felt like a bug more than part of the game.  I imagine the rest of the game is like the first one, short and easy, and not as charming as Humongous’ efforts.  But until they get a patch to fix that bug on the Switch, I really can’t recommend this one.

Kid Factor:

Asfalia: Panic at the Mansion is rated E for Everyone with ESRB descriptors of Comic Mischief and Mild Fantasy Violence.  It’s all silly cartoony stuff and I think any kid would be OK with this.  Except for the game breaking bug I encountered.  Reading skill isn’t needed as everything has spoken voice.

Tags: Game Reviews