Bastion
LQ: 9.15
Recommended Age: 10+
Skills Used: Planning, Working Memory, Mathematics, Reading
The characters inhabiting the world of Stacking are Russian stacking dolls, with each doll having a unique ability specific to their personality or profession. For instance, an engineer doll possesses a wrench to fix certain objects in the game and a pelican doll has the ability to fly. Charlie, being the smallest of the Stacking dolls, has the ability to jump in and out of the body of any doll larger than himself and use their unique abilities to solve puzzles, cause mischief, and sneak his way ever closer to rescuing his brothers and sisters from the evil Baron. All puzzles have multiple creative solutions and rewards the player for finding as many as possible. The game features minimal cartoon violence and some crude humor, but is otherwise inoffensive, so it comes recommended to players 8 and up.
Recalling and retaining information in her mind while working.
Each level in Stacking presents the player with a totally new and open world to explore. Level settings range from cruise ships to sky trains and all offer dozens of puzzles for the player to solve, collectibles to discover, and unique characters to join. Exploring these levels will reveal interesting objects, places, and dolls to the player which he will need to remember in order to solve puzzles he encounter later on. Many puzzles in the game require the player to "stack" (enter the body of a doll one size larger than the one the player currently is in) multiple dolls of the same variety in order to solve the puzzle or bypass an obstacle. Players must interpret the clues given to them and decipher which dolls they need to solve the puzzle based on the abilities of those particular dolls. Then the player must recall where he discovered those dolls in the level. Forgetful players will have difficulty determining which dolls they need and where to get them.
Adapting and adjusting to changing conditions and expectations.
Every puzzle presented to the player in Stacking can be solved in a number of ways. While players are only required to find one solution to a given puzzle to advance the storyline, finding multiple solutions rewards players with new decor or dolls in their hideout. The puzzles in Stacking require the player to think creatively about how to use the available dolls' abilities. For instance, the firefighter doll may use his hose ability to put out a fire in order for you to escape a guarded room through a fireplace in one puzzle and later use the same ability to soak a guard who can then be frozen by another doll's ability to blow cold air. Players who can shift their strategies from puzzle to puzzle and think of multiple uses for dolls' abilities will have a more enjoyable and rewarding experience in Stacking.
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