Bik - A Space Adventure

I'm currently on something of an adventure game bender -- meaning, it's late October 2015 and I'm trying to squeeze as many in before the end of the year as I can. Bik: A Space Adventure is my latest conquest. And it's an odd one. Odd, because as lame as it is, it is a designed lameness; it looks crap, but it looks consistently crap; the music is some generic midi-sounding sci-fi instrumentals, and it sounds like it should fit the on-screen action but it never does; while the designers appeared to have gone out of their way to make a standard adventure game interface (really one of only two interfaces in popular use in the genre) much more clunky and much less intuitive than it needs to be. According to Steam I've spent (I think) around three hours on this game, playing it from start to finish. Looking at other reviews, that seems to be a somewhat shorter playtime than most. Usually, however, I tend to be someone that needs a bit extra time to finish a game. Why? Because I like to EXPLORE, I want to look at EVERYTHING, try out every possible combination, and really get a deep feel for the game. With Bik: A Space Adventure, I never felt like there was anything to be gained from being experimental, from clicking on everything, from trying things out. It doesn't help that there really isn't much to click on. Scenes tend to be absolutely bare. There aren't any real puzzles; there is only a flow of actions you are expected to perform in order to progress to the next scene. It's all just so empty. And perhaps that's what kills this game's appeal for me more than anything else. The first hour I was psyched. I enjoyed the character interactions. I enjoyed the art design -- ugly as it may be, it does serve a certain design function. I enjoyed the humour. The interface was clunky. But I was still going to give this game a positive RECOMMENDED review. The second hour doubts started settling in. It hit me how flat all of the characters were. I realised that there was a complete absence of lore for this particular setting. The almost complete lack of sound effects made the already bare scenery seem even moreso. And the music was starting to annoy, chiefly as it seemed to be a such an ill fit for the action. By the start of hour three the tedium had set it in. The humour had worn thin. There was nothing interesting happening in the story. I just wanted to get it all over with. I even considered taking a break from the game and moving on to something else. (In the end I stuck with it, and here we are ...) It's not that the game lacks polish. Rather, the issue is that -- through the process of polishing the game -- bad design decisions were enforced. Hence why the bad art is consistently bad throughout; hence why the music is cool to listen to on its own (note: massively dissappointed that the soundtrack DLC is mp3 ONLY!) but doesn't really work in the game; hence why there are almost no sound effects implemented throughout the whole of the game (and the few that are, are PC internal speaker-style shrieking reminiscent of the DOS era); hence why the interface takes an established standard (click on something --> get a menu of possibilities) and adds an extra step as regards item use, while at the same time eschewing a quick inventory access icon. And so on. Etc. The story has potential -- a human kid is abducted by aliens and ends up in the middle of international business intrigues. But it's all wasted. The "feels" just aren't there. I wanted to care about this kid. But he's so aloof and flippant about the whole thing -- and the story never explores his background or his feelings -- that I just ended up thinking: "Okay, if the designers don't care about Bik, why should I care about Bik?" You also get to control three aliens as playable characters -- outside of graphics there's nothing particularly alien about them, though. They're just American sitcom stereotypes forced into a sci-fi setting (without it being anywhere near as interesting as that sounds). Regarding achievements, most can be had simply playing the game; the rest all depend on you killing yourself in creative ways (designers forcing you to kill the character you're supposed to care about?); except for the one at the beginning, where you have to get a perfect score on a partially broken minigame (again, likely partially broken by design). And so, to end off this review, I'm not recommending Bik, and I'm moving on to my next adventure, which will probably be Alum. Thank you for reading!

Fun and cute humor that tickled me. The interesting, intertwining stories have nice pacing, and the puzzles have a decent difficulty level. Graphics had a couple nice surprise effects. Music and sound was passible. The game uses 285Mbs of diskspace and uses the Unity game engine. I played this game on an old Ubuntu desktop with the keyboard and mouse. I saw no technical issues.

This game has a very interesting campaign where you can shoot socks, make sandwiches and die! Honestly, I suggest you all play this game. Yes the graphics are crappy and it is 2D, but it is definitely worth buying this game.

Many good puzzles but the story failed to engage me, and I had to play it in small chunks. A good in-between game.

I try to avoid "delightful" as it seems like an adjective used by people on the receiving end of pity sex. Bik is truly a delight however, and well worth your time. Bik tells the story of the titular young scamp, abducted by a belligerent race that comes in second on the list of the galaxy's vilest gangs. You're soon rescued by some kind-heated mercenaries whose loose tactical coordination and moral compunctions end with a galaxy-saving adventure. Bik is simple, fun, well-written and full of surprises. I almost never consulted a guide and the game presents an amusing variety of challenges. Bold pastel colors give the pixel graphics a real zest. The great strength of Bik is its likable characters. It is perhaps the most anti-Hatred title on Steam, providing lovable characters doing the right thing for their friends. There is absolutely a place for more cynical storytelling but seeing two scrappy underdogs become friends and save the galaxy is occasionally what we all need, especially when it involves achievements for eating baloney sandwiches. Pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

A really good point-and-click! It seems criminally underrated, and that's a shame. It's a lovely hidden gem. The game's got great writing, story, and characters. There's a lot of good humor, adventure, and even drama (and sandwiches). I really like the worldbuilding this game establishes. Space is an interesting and colorful place with lots of things to discover and genuinely likable characters to meet. I had a lot of fun just clicking on different things and trying items in different combinations just to see what would happen. There's also a bunch of neat little references to classic sci-fi here and there without it being distracting. What I really found fascinating is that you can use the "examine" button on the character you control, giving you some insight into their mental state; you learn something new about them whichever area you're in. It was an interesting mechanic that gave whichever character you control a little bit more depth. The graphics and soundtrack are simple, yet charming. It's got a great nostalgic/retro look going on that didn't strike me as lazy or cheap. The puzzles are logical, creative, and challenging without being overly frustrating. The non-story achievements are really silly and fun to get too (there's a lot of different hilarious ways to die). The game's length is relatively short, but it's a good length for the story the game is trying to tell. It doesn't feel rushed and it doesn't overstay its welcome. The price is fair for what the game has to offer. The only real downside is that there's a neat little sequel hook at the end of the game and there doesn't seem to be a sequel in sight. I would've loved to revisit this world again a little bit more. Recommended if you like sci-fi, point-and-clicks, solid writing, and fun. It's a delightful game that could use some more recognition.

A point and click adventure in the style of the old 90's EGA graphics like the early Sierra games. It's actually lengthy enough especially for the cheap price you pay, although i also found it quite difficult in places. In the game there are no dead ends, and you can die, but you can always retry with autosave. Helpful and communicative dev too! 7/10.

One of the better adventures I've played recently, Bik was a lovely surprise. Story, characters, humour, all good, 'nuff said. The puzzles manage to tread the fine line between making sense, and not spoonfeeding you. One of the rare adventure games I never got quite frustrated enough to pull up a walkthrough for, and still felt good about solving puzzles. This is partly because they cut down on trial and error puzzle solving, by not letting you try to use everything on everything else, so you don't have to waste time with constant "That doesn't work" responses. Distinctive art. Okay, it's not the prettiest, but I've played other games which used a lot more pixels to make boring art. Still, I do wish they'd put a tiny bit more effort into the "animations", especially for falling over. Fair death system. Yes you can die, but the game saves for you, so you won't lose progress if you forget to save before "accidentally" blowing up the space station you're standing in. If you're a fan of adventure games, Bik is well worth your time.

Obviously this is one large big love letter to the likes of Space Quest, from the silly tone of the game, to the many weird ways you can accidentally kill off the various characters, to the plenty of references to classic Sierra adventure titles throughout. Thankfully it also has the brains to avoid some of the more unpalatable Space Quest issues (aka: dead ends) and offers up an incredibly fun and smart adventure thats well worth getting.

Bik: A Space Adventure is a must-play, especially if you love point-and-click adventures or plan on designing one. It serves as an excellent model for point-and-click adventure games and other developers could learn quite a lot from it. In particular, this game flawlessly executes three objectives upon which the entire genre depends. 1 - Avoids punishing the player for guessing. If you've ever played one of these Zork descendants, you know that sometimes the solution to a puzzle is unclear. Sometimes one wrong move can be the end of the game. Bik circumvents this somewhat with a sense of humour. Some of the deaths are outright ridiculous and great for a laugh. Not only that, but if you make a fatal mistake, the developers were kind enough to include a feature that autosaves your game retroactively to your critical error so that you can try again from exactly the moment you fumbled. It keeps the game fun, especially in the middle of difficult or complex puzzles, of which there are very few in the first place. Short loading times mean that you're ready to try again in seconds. 2 - Leads you in the right direction. As I played through this adventure, I felt a mild disappointment at how neglected some of the object descriptions were and how mundane the non-essential parts of the game were. I saw it as a missed opportunity to develop the world. But then I considered it in a new light and realised that it ... might have been on purpose. All point-and-click adventures suffer from one critical conundrum--in the effort to build an immersive world full of detail, the player is often overloaded with information. When every object seems significant, none of them stand out clearly enough to lead us to what we're there to do. A few pictures or disheveled bedsheets in the background may have lackluster descriptions, but that's the point. It's directing your focus toward the puzzles' real elements so that you can progress without ever feeling 'stuck' and clicking every random combination of items in frustration. 3 - It still tells a solid story. This ties into the previous point. Even with the background and details somewhat simplified, Bik manages to tell a good story with a classic outline. It strikes a perfect balance between storytelling and puzzle-solving and shines by that accomplishment. It's simple, it's relatively short, but it's consistently satisfying to progress. The characters' personalities are not sacrificed to this end, the integrity of the world remains intact, and it really feels like a window into a new universe. Sure, it's not the whole space opera, but it's enough of it that we want to see the sequel. I'm waiting for Bik: The SET Strikes Back and Bik: Return of the Sandwich. Take my money, Bik. You've earned it.