An Amazing 3ds Game - Of Mice And Sand

[Sgt.Groove]

So I bought this game a while ago and didn't really play it much at first but recently ive put over 40 hours into it and I gotta say, it's in my top 10 games. It's where you control a little crew of mice on a ship/car hybrid through the desert in the search for the greatest treasure of all, El Dorado. While doing this you have to build up ship supplies, fight off bandits and giant desert creatures, feed all your little mice (easier said than done), manage money, build rooms, etc.

The end of the game is a nice surprise but once I entered post game there's an extra goal, to build up another little secret item that's only available in post game (I will put it in a spoiler) and there's even a secret area that holds some other nice surprises as well. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves games where you micromanage allot and love building up little societies.

Now about that secret item...

Spoiler

It's an arcade machine! It took me over 5 hours in real time to build it at 3x game speed and it's a nice bonus for anyone who puts in the effort! It looks nice on the ship and comes with mini games! It's worth it, and because of this secret item (the blueprint costs 12k in game money, which is ton) the game gets even more playtime :3 And yes, it comes with a full on game!

 

[Anactoria]

Hi! Thanks for that! I love it when people discover smaller/indie games. How polished would you say the game is? Especially any writing -- call me a snob but I can't stand games that have a lot of typos or awful grammar.

 

[Sgt.Groove]

@Anactoria

When it comes to writing it's pretty great (though the dialogue is pretty sparse), there is a nice bit of lore about the planet and why it's a big desert (and why there are crashed ships scattered about) and when it comes to errors I didn't notice any, though if you don't like words like S'ungry then ignore some of the text on the bottom screen. When it comes to how the game runs it's really smooth, the only time it gets laggy is if your using the original 3ds and the game is at x3 speed (theres an option for speed, x1, x2, and x3) with a ship full of mice (I only started getting a little lag once I got over 50 mice, but they were all building or crafting things, + I was in an area with lots of enemies). However I only noticed lag on the bottom screen, and only when I was moving the camera, the top screen never really lags.

- - - Post Merge - - -

@Anactoria

When it comes to writing it's pretty great (though the dialogue is pretty sparse), there is a nice bit of lore about the planet and why it's a big desert (and why there are crashed ships scattered about) and when it comes to errors I didn't notice any, though if you don't like words like S'ungry then ignore some of the text on the bottom screen. When it comes to how the game runs it's really smooth, the only time it gets laggy is if your using the original 3ds and the game is at x3 speed (theres an option for speed, x1, x2, and x3) with a ship full of mice (I only started getting a little lag once I got over 50 mice, but they were all building or crafting things, + I was in an area with lots of enemies). However I only noticed lag on the bottom screen, and only when I was moving the camera, the top screen never really lags.

 

[Alienfish]

Sounds interesting, I haven't been much into "Nindies" on the eShop but this sounds interesting actually.

So let me ask as well, how is the game curve in terms of difficulty and having a chance to grind up and get proper items for the right times (I could compare to Ultra Moon where you hardly get any good ground types for the electric trials etc.)? I mean I don't mind grinding as long as it's done right and such but you need to be fair on players, man.

 

[Sgt.Groove]

@Sheila

The item curve is actually really steep near the end, items like satellite coms and alkaline become top priority but you will rarely find the items near the end (forcing you to backtrack, which also makes it to where your unable to get items like fuel ore, crystals, etc.).

The item curve and rarity of some items is what makes end game challenging, but this only really occurs near El Dorado once your tasked with getting to El Dorado, which will take quite a long time.

 

[Alienfish]

Hmm, fair beans. I thought it was more "rely on a random trade system" to even get something in an effective way but doesn't sound too annoying or bad then. And yeah fair enough if it's endgame then ^^

 

[Sgt.Groove]

@Sheila

If you use all your sheet metal and scraps to produce things like bolts and wire you should be set on the market, there are usually plenty of request for both of those all along the way, it's just a pain late game because you need them allot more to produce defenses for your ship. And the market is really nice (though not all areas carry food and if you don't cook meals ahead of time it's like sailing to your doom •▲•)

 

[Alienfish]

Haha I see. Sounds like a fair challenge though since you CAN get things and don't have to rely on a wonder trade lol.