Following Freeware: November 2011 releases

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Daps

There are few things more annoying than setting out to make your favourite recipe and finding out you are missing most of the ingredients. Such is the case for the furry heroes of Daps, who wake up to find their larder distinctly lacking in the requisite consumables. Their quest for food-stuffs involves more than a simple trip down the shops, however, as they must travel in their fridge-shaped rocket and face many dangers if they are to make the meal they desire.

From his tall furry blob heroes onwards, Michael Van Holker has clearly set out to make a surreal adventure. The graphic style mixes coloured photographic compositions with simpler hand-drawn characters in a style somewhat reminiscent of Amanita Design’s. The resulting combination is an effective, if highly unusual, look. Even the more normal parts of the scenery often get abnormal uses, such as the fridge rocket. From the protagonists’ underground cave, you will travel to a broken-bridged canyon and a dangerous Colorado Beetle-infested hillside. Sound effects such as the alarm clocks waking our heroes and pleasant bursts of mellow guitar music form the audio backdrop.

With its basic point-and-click control system, operating the game is extremely simple. In some scenes you simply click on various interactive areas to pass the current obstacle. At other times you will need to time your clicks to avoid attracting attention, and there is one danger-filled maze to pass through. Death is possible, but the game allows you to immediately restart where you died whilst helpfully providing a sketched clue to indicate what you did wrong. With such surreal settings and graphics, it is also important to consider more unorthodox approaches, though all solutions are logical within the context of the bizarre world presented.

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