In Skip Around the World: Finland, the first installment of Carmel Games' point-and-click adventure series, Skip, as you might surmise from the title, is a world traveler who winds up in Finland. And hey, visiting Santa's Village is fine, and sure those Northern Lights are all breathtaking and whatnot, but what Skip really wants is to meet Oiva Vasta, the "sauna guru", who apparently shares Skip's passion for sitting around wearing towels and sweating with strangers, which is basically my nightmare scenario. To find his hero, Skip will need to travel around and see the sights, solving puzzles and performing favours for the locals as he tries to find someone who knows where Oiva might be. Just click to interact when the cursor changes, and click an item from your inventory to pick it up so you can try to use it somewhere. And hey, you might actually learn something about Finland in the process!... sorta. Maybe?
Like most of Carmel Games' titles, Skip Around the World: Finland is unapologetically goofy and silly, which means at any moment you could be helping a hard rock fan complete a jigsaw puzzle, or dealing with a cantankerous bear in a fancy restaurant. It's this dedication to being lightheartedly weird that makes some of the puzzles a little less than intuitive, but as long as you explore everywhere and take anything not nailed down, you'll be fine. What's neat is that the game uses real locations and actual Finnish items and language, making it educational too as it showcases different places and things. The art is particularly well done here, too, with more use of shading and depth on the characters and environments. It's on the break-sized side of length, so it won't overstay its welcome, and as long as you don't try to take it more seriously than it takes itself, it's a solid start to a new series that can make you learn a bit while you play, as long as you're the sort of person who likes to Google every new term and name you encounter.
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough
(When you talk to people, always explore all the available options.)
Hotel
Go inside and talk to the receptionist. This gets you a key and a hint about brochures.
Get the brochures from the rack on the wall next to the stairs. Look at the brochure; this will let you access the Santa's Village location, but first you have things to do in the hotel.
Go upstairs -- either the stairs or the elevator (Hissi) will work. Use the key to open room 202.
Get the candy from the pillows.
Go into the bathroom and get the towels.
Go back downstairs and go into the sauna (door nearest the stairs). Talk to the woman to gain the information that the sauna isn't hot & steamy enough.
Go left twice to see the map.
Santa's Village
Get the shawl from the snowman.
Go into the house and talk to Santa. This gives you the info that someone will need help finding their way to Santa, and gives you access to the observatory location.
Go back outside and go into the teepee-looking structure on the right (the one with a fish hanging above the entrance).
Talk to the shopkeeper; he tells you about the lost & found.
Take a map from the stand on the counter.
Go back outside, then go left to access the map.
Observatory
Click the domed building near the top of the map to go to the observatory.
Go into the observatory; the astronomer complains that now it's gonna be cold. Give him the shawl and the candy so he'll let you look through the telescope. This gives you access to the arena location.
Note that there's a first aid box on the wall next to the door, but you don't need anything from it at the moment.
Go outside, then go right to see the map.
Arena
Click the rock singer dude to go to the arena.
Pick up the paper on the ground on the left.
Talk to the horned fellow and make note of the jigsaw puzzle piece he is missing. (One inset, three outset.)
Talk to the puzzled guy holding a map. After ascertaining that he's the guy Santa was talking about, give him the map to Santa's Village.
Go left or right to see the map.
Santa's Village, take 2
Go in to see Santa and talk to him. Get the gift.
Go into the gift shop and talk to the cashier. Get the appropriate puzzle piece. (Top row middle)
Arena, take 2
Give the puzzle piece to the horned fellow and get the bucket.
Hotel, take 2
Click the golden statue icon near the bottom of the map to go to the hotel.
Go upstairs to your room and fill the bucket with water at the bathroom sink. (You need to turn the faucet on first, then use the bucket on it.)
Go downstairs and into the sauna. Use the bucket on the coals. Get the book from the woman. This gives you access to the ice pool location.
Ice Pool
Talk to the masochist in the water. This gives you access to the hotdog stand.
Go left or right to the map.
Hot Dog Stand
Click the sausage icon to go to the hotdog stand.
Talk to the vendor and try to get both menu items.
When the vendor tells you that the rye bread is for his daughter, give him the gift from Santa.
Either direction will take you back to the map.
Ice Pool, part 2
Give the masochist the hotdog, then the rye bread. Turns out he's not such a good masochist after all, eh?
Observatory, part deux
Go inside and click the first aid box. Get the vodka.
Ice Pool, once more with feeling
Give masochist guy some vodka to drown his sorrows. This gives you access to the sky-high restaurant location.
Restaurant
Click the space-needle-looking icon (just above the dot for Tampere) to go to the restaurant.
Go inside and try to talk to the blond guy.
Give the bear the book, then try talking to the blond guy again.
Posted by: Reka
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August 27, 2014 12:32 AM