Ahoy, me hearties!
Similar to the likes of Return to Mysterious Island, this is a pretty decent little junior adventure that is based on the classic book by Robert Louis Stevenson. It combines a ripping yarn with some attractive visuals and solid puzzles to create a perfect game for budding explorers. You take the role of Jim Hawkins, the former cabin boy who was at the heart of the original story but now he's retired from pirating and is the captain of his own ship. However, when he receives a note from Long John Silver informing him of a secret treasure hoard, he soon finds himself back in action and looking for lost gold. What follows is a fairly straightforward first-person point-and-click adventure, a bit like a younger version of Myst, which sees you tackling old Silver's tests on the treasure island in order to get the gold. The puzzles are mostly inventory-based with no action or other elements present, making this a good choice for those who prefer to use their brain rather than their trigger finger. The controls are super simple to pick up, requiring little more than a left or right click of the mouse. For younger adventure fans, this really is quite a nice little game. It certainly grabs you from the start with its classic tale of adventure on the high seas, pirates, and treasure seeking and the story is pretty compelling stuff. It's aided nicely by some attractive visuals which are bright, colorful, and detailed. The puzzles are standard stuff but still fun and satisfying to solve so if you're in the mood for some pirate fun, this is a good choice.
