Game Review: Brawsome's JOLLY ROVER

It's quite difficult today to find new IP in the realm of adventure games these days. While the style is more popular now than it has been in years, it seems as though this particular renaissance was brought about by people polishing and/or rebooting classic point-and-clicks. To those wishing to find something new, I suggest you check out Australian-based developer Brawsome's Jolly Rover.

The game's plot, as the title suggests, revolves around a group of anthropomorphic dogs involved in piracy. The protagonist of the tale, accidental Jolly Rover rum creator Gaius James Rover, is forced into a life of crime after a shipment of his product bound for Groggy Island is hijacked by a vicious pitbull named Captain Howell. Rover is eventually forced to join Howell's crew to raise funds to pay back the governor of Groggy Island for his missing spirits. Voodoo, crooked politics, and a troupe of possible cannibal "bitches" also weigh heavily into the story.

Jolly Rover's gameplay isn't a whole lot different from what you've experienced in past adventure games. You'll solve several logic puzzles, collect & combine several types of items, and converse with colorful, well-voiced characters. It is innovative in that the puzzles are quite logical and totally un-frustrating. There's also a neat voodoo mechanic that requires you to learn and perform spells (they're mapped to a clickable button after one use, no memorization required) to progress and a fun hint system that involves feeding crackers to a parrot.

So, we've got a charming, modestly priced ($19.99) game you don't need a massively powerful computer to run (tried on a high end and low end rig, ran great on both) that should delight anyone who has ever used the rubber chicken with cable. Still need convincing? Check out the demo on Steam.

UPDATE: Received an e-mail from Brawsome's Andrew Goulding letting me know Jolly Rover has been marked down to $4.99 this week to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day. The following week the aforementioned modest price will drop to $9.99 permanently. You have no excuse not to buy this thing now, people!