As a child, everyone always dreads that last night of summer before having to head back to school for the fall semester. But for one youngster, the last night of summer turns out to be the most memorable night of his life.
The Night of the Rabbit follows the tale of a wannabe magician named Jerry. After he is given the task of finding some blackberries for his mother so she can bake a pie, Jerry meets a talking rabbit that can train him to be a magician. The rabbit takes Jerry on an adventure that will take him to the magical world of Mousewood. This town in an alternate universe is populated by talking woodland critters, and Jerry is given the task of completing his training to become a real magician. Along the way he will find out that is it not always peaceful in the world of woodland critters.
Daedalic Entertainment is the studio behind The Night of the Rabbit. They are known for making point-and-click adventure games with incredible depth, and The Night of the Rabbit is no exception.
Like many point-and-click adventure games before it, The Night of the Rabbit takes a lot of critical thinking to get through the game. You’ll often find yourself clicking on anything and everything in each area to progress through the story. For fans of the genre, you’ll be happy to know that the puzzles required to get through the game can be challenging and will require a lot of thinking. But this aspect of the game could be a turn off to those not used to point-and-click adventure games.
The puzzles in the game start out with what seem like a simple solution, at first. As the puzzles unravel, you’ll find that they require several smaller solutions to get to the necessary items you need to accomplish the overarching goal. One problem I had with these puzzles is that they can be incredibly obscure. The game requires you to combine items, or use items that someone may have never thought of using before. This can lead to you clicking on every interactive item in the game, hoping for it to be the solution. While there is an overarching sense of direction for the game, at times it feels like it trips over itself.
Since the game is about Jerry becoming a magician, it introduces some magic as your progress through your training. One of the first powers you get is the ability to reveal secrets by looking through your special ring. This can help with some puzzles as it will reveal everything in a particular area that you can interact with. As you progress through Jerry’s training, more spells become available for him to use to solve puzzles. He also becomes in possession of a very interesting book, which when he reads, transforms the world from day into night, or vice versa.
Jerry has an inventory where everything that is picked up throughout the game is stored, and can be accessed at any time. Like any great point-and-click adventure, Jerry will say the same quip over and over as you use the wrong item to solve a puzzle.
The presentation The Night of the Rabbit is its strongest aspect. The game features a hand drawn art style that compliments its mystical story. Colors stand out well, and each setting and character are drawn in such a way to really draw you into the world of Mousewood. The Night of the Rabbit also features a great soundtrack that plays constantly behind the game as you explore the world. It never gets repetitive, and the songs fit each unique area well. The voice acting is well done, creating memorable and believable characters that you encounter.
For newcomers to the point-and-click adventure genre, The Night of the Rabbit will seem quite daunting as current goals are not always clear. But for veterans of the genre, The Night of the Rabbit offers an incredibly rich story, a memorable art style, well-crafted and believable characters, and puzzles that will challenge your wits. In other words, it is a great addition to the point-and-click adventure library.
Score: 8/10
The Night of the Rabbit was developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment for the PC and Mac on May 28. A copy of the game was provided to us by Daedalic Entertainment for reviewing purposes.
