About two years ago, at Disneyland, I entered my first Build-a-Bear factory. The place was packed! It also was very cool. I can't say who enjoyed it more, the adults or the kids. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to make my own bear. When Game Factory first showed me the game in development at E3 last year, I was struck by what a novel idea! A lot has changed since I first played with Build-A-Bear Workshop.
First, you have to create your "bear." I put this in quotes because you can create a dog, a frog, a rabbit or any number of animals. You need to give it a sound — your frog can bark if you'd like — stuff it, give it a heart, steam clean it, brush it and clothe it. And don't forget a name! You've made your very own special friend. The process is fairly simple. For those who read, there are instructions; for those who don't, there are hands that move along and blink where you should be using the stylus. It's fairly intuitive.
Once you've created your furry friend, you find your Cub Condo — your home. A quick coat of paint, and the place is yours. Here is where you'll spend the rest of your days cooking, dancing, playing and catching honey!
This is where my son handed the game back to me. He said, "I wanted to make bears for people, Mom." OK, fair enough, he had expectations. I played for a little while, and eventually, he showed interest again. He is 8-years old and reads very well.
First, we cooked. Time to make a cake! The first thing on the screen was something to the effect of, "Remember how to do this because you won't get another try, and you'll have to do it again in the Attic." Huh? This wasn't a 2–3 step recipe. It was more like 7–10. And there were many more to come. Memorize the entire thing? Removing the cover from the plate to surprise his stuffed bear gave my son trouble — again, he handed me the DS. I frowned.
Outside to the garden, I headed. Magical shapes — this sounded fun. Trace the pattern on each magical shape three times, and your animal will learn to dance that shape. Cool! My son was back — this was fun! Then we found the swingset. We could sit on the swing and rock back and forth. Ooh! Even better, we could kick a ball while swinging and try to get it through wickets or into a basketball hoop. This kept his attention for a while. Then he wanted to do more magic shapes, but there weren't any available. We headed to the attic.
Here, we found the minigame for dancing. The shapes headed toward a line where you would complete the shape causing your friend to dance. Level 1 was fun! Back to the garden, he went to learn more shapes. Back up to the attic ... and it immediately went to level 2, which not only included new shapes but was significantly faster. The DS went back into my hands. And there it stayed. I have to admit, level 2 was a bit tough for me.
I thought I'd check things out in the attic while I was there. I tried cooking but having not done the original recipe, I couldn't complete anything. Ring around the rosy was fun — sort of. The artifical intelligence seemed to have an advantage, and in a game for kids, the AI should never have an advantage.
Then I found the honey game. There were no instructions. I checked the instruction booklet — ditto. So, I just started to capture honey in one of my two honey pots. But these bees started to bother me; and then spiders. Purely by accident, I emptied a honey pot into a side bucket — discovering the intent of the game. But the bombardment of insects was a real nuisance. I tried poking one of them. Sure enough, that got rid of one. OK, I need to move two pots to catch honey, emptying them as I fill them while getting rid of bees and spiders along the way. UGH.
By now, I had forgotten this was a Build-a-Bear product, and I don't know what happened to the workshop. The initial concept — a stuffed animal with a home to play in — I feel would have been good. But the difficulty is so uneven that I can't honestly say who the game is appropriate for. The music is great, the graphics pleasing, but there is just so much that is difficult; the execution misses its target by so wide a margin that I have to say with heavy heart, build your bear elsewhere.
I'm a mother of two boys, ages 7 and 10 and live in the chaos that ensues. I've a permanent disability that keeps me homebound, so books, kids, games and books are my constant companions. Oh, and books, too. *grins*
My children both play games so I often play them first, getting to know exactly how something may effect my sensitive and easily stimulated older child vs. my stoic and imperturbable younger.
I like games for games; for the pure enjoyment of them and believe that no game is wholly bad, though some are real stinkers.
I also have the dexterity of a camel in mittens so find playing FPSs difficult (and I also don't like the gore) and RTSs at times can stump me. I just can't seem to move quickly enough to keep up with them. Some of my favorite games are arcade games and I'll spend 3-5 years on the same 5-6 levels because I just never get any better. But, I have fun.
