We all have our favorite educational video games. Number Crunches, Math Blasters, and of course, Oregon Trail are among some of the best of this category, complete with a nostalgia-driven cult fan bases. But at some point, it seems like we don't want our games to get too education-driven.
Enter Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna). An all ages game, it plays fairly simply. It's a side scrolling platform puzzle game that doesn't really overdo it with elements of either. Overall, the puzzles are very easy, and the platforming itself isn't too difficult either. The biggest challenges often involve trying to aim your sling properly, or fighting the slide that occurs when you land.
The controls can be a little clunky at times, but there isn't much to it. You pretty much just jump, switch to the other character, jump some more, and aim your sling. That last bit can get a little frustrating. To aim, you must rotate the right analogue stick. The sensitivity is a bit strong, so finding the sweet spot can be a pain.
In each level, the player controls two characters, although when playing single player, you control one at a time. You switch back and forth between Nuna, or her spirit fox companion. On the most part, Nuna will be your primary character, especially in one of the many chase sequences. The fox is great for getting other spirits within the environment to help, which largely just entails dragging new platforms around so Nuna can hop on it. Alternatively, you could get a friend to play co-op with you, wherein one person plays as Nuna and the other as the fox.
In terms of game play, it's really simple. The level designs are also pretty basic. If you do decide to check out Never Alone, it's worth keeping in mind that this is a game designed to be played by a wide range of age groups. Kids should be able to complete it. For adults, it isn't much of a challenge. Being a platform puzzle game can make that feel really frustrating, but it isn't really the point of it.
See, Never Alone was developed by the first game developer company owned by indigenous people in the United States. At the end of the day, the game is meant to be a way to share the culture of the Inupiaq (i-nyu-PE-ak) people - a native tribe in Alaska. The story of the game is told by elders of the community, and features a fair amount of folklore.
At certain intervals within the story, players unlock videos. Most of them are only about a minute or two, and are presented as documentary-style videos of Inupiaq individuals putting cultural context behind an element of the story. By and large, the use of these videos is superb. Keeping them short means that players won't feel frustrated by having to watch a video, but they're also informative and adds to the story. The content of the videos match what is happening in the story, allowing players to feel both entertained and educated.
Personally, my big takeaway is that more games should do this. Imagine if Call of Duty used brief educational videos about World War II, or used interviews with veterans during load screens, or even just as unlockable rewards. Yes, those games often use actual footage from the war, but it provides no real context. Never Alone made me wish that Call of Duty started each mission with a few talking heads of real life veterans, Band of Brothers style.
The art style is a beautiful mix of cartoonish and the stylized look of scrimshaw. This adds to the "cute" factor of the game, enhanced even more by playing as a young girl and a spirit fox. It all ties into a rather compelling tale, one in which the least expected person makes the greatest difference. Overall, few educational games have managed to seamlessly integrate informative elements in with the story. Like most educational games though, the mechanics maybe do fall into the backseat a bit more than it should.
It's a solid little game for all ages that doesn't do the game stuff super well, but does some of the educational things really well. No element of it is "bad," by any means. It's cute and innocent with a lovely art style. All in all, it's worth checking out.
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