Veneficium: A witch's tale

Greetings! Since the Wifey decided to download this game on my library I now have to review it…yay me! So today we will be looking at “Veneficium” a free to play (actually free) platformer made by a small developer which feels like a great first 3d game for a creator, but is it worth your time as a game to play? Let’s discuss. The Charmed: At the core this game is a simple 3d platformer with physics based puzzles. These puzzles revolve around elements; fire, wind, ice and you can change the element of your wand to have various effects on the world. For example, you could burn a tree down, or blow it over or freeze it to climb. To be fair typing that sentence felt a bit silly but that is the gist of the mechanics. The game also does a bit too well at showing you what can be done to what with these big icons next to any item that can be interacted with. Simple and Clean: I actually really enjoyed the graphics and overall atmosphere though I did find myself wishing there was more in the ways of audio effects and at least some voice overs (even for a first run you could find tons of VA’s looking for exposure. The graphics themselves feel like up-scaled simple 3D models and there is a bit of charm in that. The game’s bright colors and simple design with winding paths reminded me of the simpler years of gaming…but alas, that was about it. Child’s Play: I feel like this game may have been designed for a younger audience; maybe kids first getting into physics based games that could teach problem solving and for that this game is probably amazing. Unfortunately the platforming controls are sloppy at best as the character does not really have any weight to them in the air and doesn’t appear to be able to do anything while in the air either. This doesn’t necessarily make the game more difficult; just slower. The physics puzzles are also painfully simple going back to the original point. Another concerning bit that I feel would need to be changed is the auto-play text is set at the same speed regardless of how much text is on the screen and even at a decent pace I sometimes missed text (there is no option I could find to disable auto-play). I can’t really recommend this game; it’s not bad…it’s just not for me or anyone I know. Children may enjoy it but I feel anyone old enough to enjoy it would probably be bored with it. Maybe it is something you play with your children? I’m unsure. I really wish I could recommend this as it shows there was some love put in this game. Ultimately, it’s free so waste an hour or two of your day to see if you like it. Enjoy!