Fair Winds Demo

Being a sailor is not quite as difficult as it once was, mainly because all ships use engines to move around instead of sails, but the job is still not a cake walk. The sea can surprise anyone, regardless of how much experience you have under your belt. There are many obstacles you cannot plan for, such as sudden storms or moving obstacles.

Fair Winds is a challenging game in which your only task is to survive a journey across various levels, while avoiding all sorts of obstacles and dealing with the wind at the same time. While it may not be a perfect simulator, the gameplay mechanics try to replicate the weather conditions as accurately as possible, so it’s definitely a challenge to stay away from rocks or the logs that drift around you.

The levels start off pretty simple, although that’s only to help you get accustomed to the controls and the gameplay mechanics. Your only objective is to get to the finish, but not before passing by a couple of checkpoints. As you might imagine, these checkpoints are usually placed in the worst places, which makes it that much more difficult to complete your mission.

The other enemy you’ll be constantly fighting is the wind, which changes directions on a regular basis. This can sometimes affect your ability to move, or on the contrary, cause you to move when you don’t want to. When even the slightest contact equals a forfeit, you really don’t want to underestimate the power of the wind. Maelstroms can be a bother as well, especially if you don’t keep your distance.

As far as the technical aspect is concerned, the game is pretty basic, since it sports 2D graphics and a very simple control scheme. However, simplicity is desirable in a game like this, because this way you are not distracted by flashy effects or complicated control schemes. Speaking of which, each keystroke is immediately picked up by the boat, which is obviously a good thing.

In the end, even if Fair Winds is probably not Game of the Year material, it’s still the kind of adventure people might enjoy, especially since it features so many challenges. Hence, if you consider yourself patient and you do not mind having to retry the same level over and over again, this is worth supporting.