Endless Searches

Children usually have very few worries in their lives, especially if their family keeps them fed, clothed and with a roof over their head. Hence, their only task is to learn as much as possible, which is actually their sole activity until they hit adulthood and finish college. On the other hand, chores are part of the deal sometimes, especially if they happen to live in the countryside.

Endless Searches is a top-down adventure game designed for a jam, which means that it’s pretty short and not very well polished. On the other hand, it looks better than many other productions that had a lot more time to come to fruition. Unfortunately, the gameplay is not as challenging as it needs to be to keep you engaged for very long, and the story is not brilliant either.

As such, it all starts with two siblings chatting near their house. It’s the boy’s turn to bring water from the well, so you descend into the village to get water. However, the boy decides to take a nap after filling the bucket, which is understandable. He wakes up to find the village burning and his sister kidnapped by a huge bird, which prompts an adventure to bring her back.

The most annoying thing at the game is the fact that there are no actual puzzles to solve, since most of the missions are actually just asking you to walk from point A to point B and press a certain key. You cannot even enjoy the exploration part, since there’s usually a very narrow path you have to follow between objectives. On the other hand, you can have fun with the quest as a whole.

As mentioned before, the graphics are certainly a class above most jam games out there, but they are not necessarily artistic. The landscapes become pretty repetitive and cramped after a while as well, but the buildings and the vegetation actually look quite nice. Obviously, it would have been nicer to see some variety instead, but every bit count in this case.

All things considered, Endless Searches is only an option for those who really love the genre and have nothing better to play one afternoon. Hence, the game needs much more work before it can impress anyone else.