Archibald's Adventures 
Premise is simple - you're an average kid in an average neighborhood with a somewhat kooky mad scientist living in the vicinity. Doing a mad trick on his skateboard at the city dump, Archibald ends up Professor Klumpfus' basement. Alas, this is only the beginning of your troubles, as genetically engineered experiments are on the loose and the central computer decides to lock both you and the Professor in the mansion.
How do you get out you may ask? Well, luckily, Archibald is paired with his trusty skateboard and a good dose of wit to get himself out of the mess... and a few of the Professor's zany inventions help to aid his escape.
Archibald's Adventures by Rake in the Grass, is a mix between a platform side-scrolling arcade game and puzzle game. The intro is a montage of cute illustrations depicting Archie and his friends getting into trouble. From there, there is an on-screen directional pad that you touch to move Archie around. The mansion is full of hint machines that help you through each level and you build on those skills to solve more difficult puzzles later.
The first stage of levels is relatively (to deceptively!) simple, but as you move through the stages and levels, the puzzles become increasingly more difficult. Timing is important as well as thinking out of the box.
I doubt I'll be able to get through all 100+ levels anytime soon - I'm currently stuck mid-way through Stage 2, although you can try out various levels of the first three stages. I personally have some difficulty with the onscreen directional pad - sometimes either my fingers are in the wrong place or it's unresponsive - either way, when I'm attempting to get through an obstacle and miss my window of opportunity and "die", it's frustrating.
All in all,
Archibald's Adventures is a nice challenge for kids and adults alike. The art reminds me of early 16-bit games. The art is retro and easy to navigate. As far as I've seen, there aren't any spooky surprises or timed levels (perhaps in later stages?) so you can take your time to solve all the puzzles at your own pace. There's a lot of stages to unlock to complete the game, so don't expect to finish it in one sitting!
The price of $7.99 might be a little steep for some, but considering it is a "basic" puzzle-adventure game. However, the sheer size of the Professor's mansion might make up for it in actual game play time.
UPDATE: Rake in the Grass just released a
FREE version called
Archibald's Adventures Lite which offers 32 levels of game play! This is a great way to try before you buy this great game!
