The Little Raven & Friends: The Tricycle Story
Little Raven and Friends: The Tricycle Story is based on a series of
children’s books by author Nele Moost and illustrator Annet Rudolph.
When Little Raven happens upon Eddy Bear’s bike, he wonders aloud what it is
like to ride, and he just can’t resist the temptation to hop on and take it
for a spin. Well, the inevitable happens – he crashes into a tree, scattering
tricycle parts everywhere! Even though he’d like to blame it on the tree, deep
down he knows it’s all his fault. Being a little worried about consequences,
however, he needs help deciding whether or not he should lie to Eddy Bear.
After all, Eddy’s going to be really mad…
Thus begins the first of several such decisions the player must help Little
Raven make in this game; weighing questions about whether to help out a friend
even though he’s “too busy”, whether to stop and refill a bug jar he knocked
over, whether to share his cookies, even though that means there will be less
for him, and others. The player is asked to make a yes or no choice in each
instance, and if he makes a “bad” one, Little Raven is sent immediately to the
Time-Out Cave – a hollowed out tree where he must sit and reconsider the
choices. A good decision at this point will bring him right back into the
game.
The player’s goal now is to collect all the parts to Eddy Bear’s tricycle by
visiting Raven’s friends, some of whom are not entirely willing to give up
their precious finds and will require some form of assistance or encouragement
by way of mini-games:
* Shell Game – in order to win the horn back from Mole the player must correctly find the shell without the cookie underneath it.
* Weights – The player must drag and drop parts to make weights for Wild Boar, so he’ll give up the tricycle wheels he’s currently using.
* Beetles – Rabbit is willing to give up the seat he’s about to make into a skateboard, but first the player has to round up a jarful of beetles Little Raven has knocked over.
* Glasses – The player must pick Owl’s glasses out of a heap of like-patterned things, then drag them over a blurry window to see the tricycle pedals.
* Memory Game – Badger will help find the handlebars if Little Raven will explain how to play concentration; the player demonstrates.
* Flag – Sheep will give up the foxtail decoration if the player finds him a very specific flag to replace it.
* Cheese – Mouse has the tail lights, and will turn them over in exchange for some help pushing a big chunk of cheese into his larder.
Actions are performed with the mouse – point, click, and drag. In some games
the cursor becomes a grasping paw – to collect beetles and to make the
weights. The cheese-pushing game is played using the four arrow keys to move
the miniature Raven.
When all the parts are collected and the tricycle reassembled, there is a
final racing game where the player can speed up or slow down using the mouse
buttons, as well as move side to side to avoid bushes. This game is suggested
for 3 years old and up – the questions it poses are universal, dealing with
honesty, generosity, consequences and peer relations.
Minimum System Requirements | ||
CPU | Intel Pentium | |
RAM | 32 MB | |
OS | Windows 95 | |
CD-ROM | 6X (900 KB/s) |
Minimum System Requirements | ||
CPU | PowerPC 601 | |
RAM | 16 MB | |
OS | System 7.1 | |
CD-ROM | 6X (900 KB/s) |