Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!

Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!
DeveloperAlasdair Beckett-King
ComposerMark Lovegrove
SeriesNelly Cootalot
EngineAdventure Game Studio
PlatformWindows
ReleaseMarch 6, 2007
GenrePoint-and-click adventure
Modesingle-player

Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! is a point-and-click adventure game by British developer Alasdair Beckett-King. It was created as an indie game using the Adventure Game Studio game engine and released for free on the Internet on March 6, 2007.[1] The game has been translated into Spanish, French, German and Polish.

Overview

Spoonbeaks Ahoy! was created by Beckett as a gift for his girlfriend, and the pirate protagonist Nelly Cootalot is modelled after her.[2] In the fictional, insular Barony of Meeth, the player investigates the disappearance of a fleet of spoonbeaks (the game's term for spoonbills).[3] A few minigames must be completed to reach the ending, including deciphering a coded message and winning a "hook a duck" carnival game.[4]

The game's ending scene alludes to a potential sequel,[4] which development was officially announced by Beckett in September 2008.[5] The second game is called Nelly Cootalot II: The Fowl Fleet. It was crowdfunded via Kickstarter and released in March 2016 commercially.[6][7]

Reception

The game was praised for its story, music and humorous setting, though a few puzzles were considered difficult.[2][4] While reviewers felt the game was inspired by Monkey Island series for its setting and dialogues, they acknowledge the originality of its art style and play experience.[4][8] It was rated 80 out of 100 by the magazine PC Format.[9]

The game won five AGS Awards in 2007, namely "Best Game Created with AGS", "Best Gameplay", "Best Dialogue Writing", "Best Player Character", and "Best Character Art".[10] It was also named one of the 20 "Best Freeware Adventure Games" of 2007 by Think Services' IndieGames.com.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! for PC". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  2. ^ a b "Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!". PC Gamer. Future Publishing. April 2008. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  3. ^ Luke Plunkett (2007-09-14). "Nelly Cootaloot Is A Hoot". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  4. ^ a b c d Luke Jensen (2008-07-19). "Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  5. ^ Alasdair Beckett (2008-09-21). "Nelly Cootalot II - Tech Demo". Chris Jones. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  6. ^ "Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet! (Retro Pirate Adventure)". Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  7. ^ "Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet wird ausgeliefert". 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  8. ^ spoonbeaks-ahoy on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (2007)
  9. ^ "Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  10. ^ Andrew MacCormack (2008-02-18). "Woah, Nelly! AGS Awards results announced". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  11. ^ "Best freeware adventure games 2007". IndieGames.com. 2008-01-19. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2008-10-07.