Secret Paths to the Sea

Description:

Secret Paths to the Sea is another Friendship Adventure for Girls from Purple Moon, their 4th release since 1997. Aimed at girls ages 8-12, these friendship adventures relate the problems and trials of the students at Whistling Pines, Jr. High. Purple Moon has two series for girls currently, the Rockett titles and the Secret Paths adventures. Both series involve the same characters from Whistling Pines, but in different ways. The Rockett games are more like interactive movies, with the player making certain decisions in the story that affect the story's end. The Secret Paths games are adventure games (in a sort of "Myst meets Clueless" style), with the player solving puzzles along the "paths" that will help each of the girls to find the wisdom they need.

Seven girls need your help in finding solutions to their problems; you must travel a special path for each one and learn about their problems along the way. Each path has several puzzles that you must solve in order to collect the special stones to form a necklace for each girl. When the stones have been collected and placed around the girl's neck, then a folk tale is related which correlates to her specific problem. After the tale is ended, she will then understand what she can do to help herself.

There are many puzzles to solve in the course of the adventure, but most of them are fairly easy and don't take much time tocomplete. The different problems besetting the characters are similar to ones that girls today may face, and are relayed in short animations of past experiences of the individual girl. One of the characters, Nakili, is hurt that her best friend, Miko, is ignoring her and spending time with another girl. Nakili is upset and angry about it, but at the end of her path she decides that she will accept Miko's invitation to spend the night with her and her new friend. Some of the problems are more serious, some are not so serious, but all are true-to-life.

Features:

• Puzzles
• Special stones included in box
• Real-life problems for girls
• Over 50 locations to explore
• 7 folk tales
• Those girls from Whistling Pines!

Technical Aspects:

Secret Paths to the Sea was simple to install, the Installshield did all the work. The graphics are very well-drawn and colorful, especially the ocean and beach paths. There is also a manual with hints to help you if you get stuck.

Report and Conclusions:

My 12 year old daughter loves Purple Moon, both the products and the web site. She was very eager to play this game, but after only a few hours she is almost finished. The puzzles are mundane, with many of them being of the "follow that color/shape/sound pattern" variety. There are also jigsaw puzzles and sliders, which are nothing new.

I asked her which series she preferred, Rockett or Secret Paths, and she answered that she likes them both equally, Secret Paths for the puzzles, and Rockett for the hallway lockers (where you can see the secret lives of the students) and the interactive movie presentation of her day at school. When questioned further, she said that she is enjoying the game, but wished the puzzles were longer/more difficult.

Parents need to remember, these games are not for every girl; ideally, the girls who will enjoy Secret Paths to the Sea the most are 9-11 and are really into relationships, feelings, and social situations and enjoy simple puzzles.