Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia

Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia

I was conflicted on this one, whether to give a positive review or not.

First the positive notes: this is a nice educational program that helps to fill the gaps in the basics of flora and fauna.

I learned a lot of things I didn’t know, so I’m satisfied with that part of the “game”.

The graphics is fine and also the sounds, which really put you in the atmosphere of the forest, field, pond and garden.

So what is the problem? The problem is that this is not a game, lol.

This is an educational application, mostly for kids. It doesn’t offer anything else but reading.

Real player with 9.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Hand-drawn Education Games.


I’ve got the game for my kid and he enjoyed it a lot. We first bought it on App Store but then I bought it here on Steam specifically to leave a review, so that games like this get better traction. If you’re a happy owner like me, I do encourage you to also support the developer in this way.

What I love about this game? It’s like a small encyclopaedia, making discovery of new facts easy and fun. I’m so, so tired of commercial mainstream “games for kids” that mostly exploit the love of children to the brands and characters already established in film/TV. Here, the game is like an open book inviting your kids to play with it in a variety of ways, always learning in the process.

Real player with 5.4 hrs in game

Little Mouse's Encyclopedia on Steam

Aka

Aka

Ride a bike, watch the clouds, swim in the hot springs under a blossom tree… or take a nap on a giant capybara

Experiment with a farming system inspired by permaculture.

Gather resources to craft shelters, tools, props, food…

Explore different biomes, from cloud forests to snowy mountains.


Read More: Best Hand-drawn Open World Games.


Aka on Steam

Hidden Shapes Animals - Jigsaw Puzzle Game

Hidden Shapes Animals - Jigsaw Puzzle Game

Really enjoyed the chill vibe (my wife was listening to me play, and the music was soothing her to sleep, lol), and the puzzles were progressively challenging, but not frustratingly so - at least I didn’t find them that way. I also appreciated that the hint system (which I needed a few times to ferret out some misoriented pieces that weren’t at all obvious to me) doesn’t penalize you in any way. If you’re looking for a nice, relaxing, puzzle game, definitely give this one a go. I’ll definitely look out for other stuff put out by this developer. :-)

Real player with 3.6 hrs in game


Read More: Best Hand-drawn Puzzle Games.


A dollar gets you a nice set of nature themed puzzles on a dark background that is easy on the eyes. The images are solved by turning the pieces in place, not by moving them on the board. So there is no ‘dragging and dropping’ which I like. Pieces only turn one way so if you turn it one too far you have to turn it three more times to get it back where you want it. The line art is nice and a starry background appears when you finish each puzzle. The music is peaceful. Best played in the dark to appreciate the night-sky visual theme. Good for a relaxing, casual puzzle. Note: using the hint function, press the hint button again to get back to puzzle-solving mode. The pieces are locked in the the hint mode and can’t be turned.

Real player with 3.3 hrs in game

Hidden Shapes Animals - Jigsaw Puzzle Game on Steam

Wilderplace

Wilderplace

You’ve been summoned by the warden of the Divine Garden. The garden, once a flawless monument to its founder’s brilliance, is starting to collapse. Only a shaman like yourself can return it to balance. Navigate conflict between the garden’s inhabitants and interlopers, unlock new abilities, and discover secrets on your journey.

Wilderplace is a unique story-driven turn-based puzzle game with exploration and unlockable abilities. Master deep, systemic interactions across an interconnected, hand-crafted world.

Wilderplace on Steam

Skip Lake

Skip Lake

Short, not too difficult reflection game. Usually these mechanics are used with light rays that have to end up in a certain location; in this case it’s a stone that magically keeps bouncing over water. Difficulty is not very consistent, some puzzles will take some pondering and tweaking and retrying, others will be clear at the first glance.

I very much liked the visuals and the sound effects, and found myself looking for longer routes to listen to the new ‘melodies’. The soundtrack was definitely not for me, and I had to turn it off every single time I started the game. It also did not remember my preference to play windowed and bounced back to full screen every restart. My last little peeve was that you can’t return to the menu or home screen between levels - you have to start or redo a level to get back the menu.

Real player with 3.6 hrs in game

Casual puzzles with a peaceful ambience. Most solutions amount to lining up the most intuitive positions, with a few requiring some more tries. While quite easy, it is fun and rewarding. There are also hidden objects to find which give a bit of story. My only issues: no touchscreen support, so it’s a lot of touchpad/mouse clicking. Also the backgrounds move when you move your cursor,even when you are just moving from the reflectors to the start button on every level, which I found a little annoying. It would be nice to be able to turn this off and have the screen only move when you actually move the cursor to an edge.

Real player with 3.2 hrs in game

Skip Lake on Steam

Under Leaves

Under Leaves

Under Leaves is a hidden Object game pure and simple. On a map of the world you are given many different locations, each location is a different stage to complete all related to different animals indigenous to the location on the map. Each stage is beautifully crafted. A real work of love! The fact that each level has a certain color scheme give it a certain style but also makes it surprisingly challenging, just enough to keep my interest through the whole game.

Pros

  • For those who likes the extra challenge, there’s 29 achievements. One for each stage and one extra for finishing the game without help.

Real player with 4.9 hrs in game

Relaxation Mode is cranked up to 11 in this simplistic watercolour hidden object game.

https://youtu.be/22PmPXLsZXU

You start off on a world map with 21 dotted circles on it. Each level is associated with an animal from that region, and as you complete the levels the map gradually fills with pictures of these animals.

You’re introduced to a level by clicking the X on the central animal, which then shows you a speech bubble containing several small icons of the objects you’re looking for (small animals, seeds, fish etc), and the number of items to be found. The overall canvas is split between 3-5 screens, and as you find/click the objects you move on to the next either via the white arrows, or by dragging. You can zoom in and out by double-clicking and then drag the screen around to inspect each area of the panel. When you find the final item you then report back to the main animal whereupon there’s a very short animation of baby animals appearing, plants growing or a shoal of fish swimming by. And that, ladies and gentlemen, describes the entire game.

Real player with 3.1 hrs in game

Under Leaves on Steam

100 hidden frogs

100 hidden frogs

A meticulously hand-drawn, hidden object, naturesque PnC game. And for free. Well, what am I doing here to tell you that? You go play it yourself, I mean it’s got achievements for all my achievmaniacs out there (I saw a friend get 100+ achievements so I was like on the bandwagon then on), it’s got a nice soothing soundtrack built-in, it LOOKS GOOD, and finally, those achievements are really easy to get, just click the frogs man.

But, if you’re like me and you can’t find the last damn frog for some reason because of the green, white, and black colours blinding your vision, look no further and use this guide some awesome dude made:

Real player with 0.4 hrs in game

WELP this is a quick game about 30 minutes give or take

the game premise is find 100 hidden frogs… thats it… kinda like find waldo or i spy…. honestly its not bad for a quick easy game but thats all i have to say about it so meh.

as a gamer: its casual gaming at its best just go in and look around i got to the last 10 before i needed a guide to find them

as a achievement hunter… its kinda funny because you go through and click one and get achievement click another get more achievements… so yeah all 100 achievements are one per frog so its easy

Real player with 0.3 hrs in game

100 hidden frogs on Steam

Camp Canyonwood

Camp Canyonwood

Welcome to historic Camp Canyonwood! You’re the new Head Counselor, tasked with breathing new life into these old campgrounds. The Campers are here, and they’re hungry for some summer fun. Their amusement, education and most importantly safety lies in your hands. Good luck, and watch for the things that go bump in the night.

Build Your Dream Camp

Gather materials and funds to improve your camp each summer, and design it as you see fit.

Guide Your Troop

Lead troops of campers each summer in pursuit of Merit Badges. The more they learn, the more you earn.

Beware of Dangers

Camping isn’t always easy. Protect your campers from dangers both natural and supernatural.

Live the Camp Life

Hike, fish, bug catch and more in a scenic Utah-inspired wilderness.

Camper Personalities

No two campers are the same. Each have their own unique personalities and quirks. Learn their needs to better reach them!

Camp Canyonwood on Steam

Plokoth

Plokoth

Plokoth es un juego atmosférico de plataformas donde contamos sólo con dos habilidades: saltar y dashear. Bajo esta premisa, recorreremos una serie de desafíos que crecerán rápidamente en dificultad. El juego está muy bien pensado, en el sentido de que cada secuencia tiene una resolución más o menos clara, y ejecutarla correctamente sólo dependerá de la habilidad del jugador. Para más ayuda, casi siempre encontraremos un checkpoint tras cada desafío, para no tener que volver a jugar toooda una sección si morimos culpa de un salto mal dado (cosa que sucederá MUCHO). Otra cosa que se agradece, aunque en cierto punto es criticable, es la ausencia de secuencias de muerte; es decir, cuando perdemos, la pantalla se funde a negro un instante, y en seguida retomamos el control del personaje principal. Esto logra que sigamos jugando casi sin pausas a pesar de nuestros fracasos; el problema radica en que muchas veces no estamos 100% seguros de qué fue lo que nos mató, por lo que poco y nada podemos aprender de esos errores.

Real player with 5.1 hrs in game

TLDR: Fix the input lag and this game will be a pleasure to play

Unfortunately I can’t say that this one is worth your time. The art is lovely and the levels are good, but the input lag makes the game annoying to play at best. I’d be happy to give this game a proper playthrough once it functions better but at the moment each stage is impossible without retying it many times to work out the exact points that I need to press jump at. This method falls apart on the more complex levels. One other nitpick I have is that there’s no obvious way to close the game :/

Real player with 3.4 hrs in game

Plokoth on Steam

Deiland: Pocket Planet

Deiland: Pocket Planet

Deiland: Pocket Planet is a relaxing farming adventure where you will have to take care of your tiny planet. Farm, craft and fight monsters to make your home a special place and help others with their quest.

Discover the story of Arco in this single-player experience, a tale about growing up, helping others and revealing the secrets that lie on the heart of your planet. We’ve crafted a relaxing game, with a strong narrative and a cast of diverse characters for you to meet.

Customize your planet with trees, plants, crops, flowers or structures, and take care of your farm animals.Discover how the whole planet changes through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each crop will only be available in the right seasons.

Play and relax. Smooth and cute graphics as well as relaxing soundtrack to ease up the bustling everyday routine with over 12 characters to meet and befriend and more than 100 quests to uncover the secrets that the heart of your planet holds.

Deiland: Pocket Planet on Steam