It’s sweet and whimsical and elegantly designed, its color palette a beautiful mixture of bright shades, stark whites, and simple shapes. The monsters and people you encounter may provide some small element of challenge–especially the kraken, who had me stumped until I looked up a walkthrough–but the real engagement is exploring every option and all their charms over some time.Īs I found out, this is not a game you want to binge-play. The simple swipe- and click-based gameplay is only part of the equation the real engagement comes from keeping track of which paths you’ve explored and which you still need. Each route loops back in on itself, and the gameplay is concentrated on finding the different ways each encounter can play out. You quickly discover that this is a game based around repetition. One route takes around ten minutes to play, and, with many choices to make, there are a number of stories to complete. Each encounter provides you with another choice to make–do you listen to the nymphs’ story, or leave? Does the maelstrom swallow you whole or spit you out?–leading to a variety of endings. You control the three Brothers Beard as they explore the world to fill out a mysterious map, encountering a variety of interesting creatures and people along the way. The storytelling is somewhere between Little Golden Books and your favorite bedtime story there’s a hint of oral storytelling in it, echoed in the game’s inventive use of sound.
‘Charming’ is a word that often gets thrown around when it comes to whimsical little games like this, but I truly found myself charmed by Burly Men at Sea’s minimalist visuals and simple but effective prose. Brain&Brain bill themselves as independent game developers and quiet adventurers and, in the case of their recently released Burly Men at Sea, the title fits.īurly Men at Sea is a folktale-inspired, beautifully designed adventure.
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