Jamie Pauls
Starting with my very first article for AccessWorld, I have reviewed a number of games for the magazine. I like to talk about newly released games that are trending in the blind community and that are especially interesting to me. Although I'm not the most prolific gamer around, I have enjoyed various titles going back to the mid-90s and even earlier. I thought it might be fun to dig back into the archives a bit and, over the next several months, review some PC-based games from the past that I have especially enjoyed playing and that you can still obtain.
The first game in the series stretches the definition of the term "vintage" a bit, because it hasn't been all that many months since its developer, Liam Ervin, has updated it. The game has been around since 2005, however, and it's still possible to play the game in its original form (more about that in a moment). Because elements of the original game exist, and because it has been around for a few years now, I decided to include Super Egg Hunt Plus in this series.
Readers of my recent AccessWorld review of The Great Toy Robbery by Liam Erven of LWorks will know that I am a fan of his work. The things that drew me to Erven's work in The Great Toy Robbery—humor, a whimsical, inner-child approach, and a simple but engaging plot—apply to Super Egg Hunt Plus as well.
Obtaining and Installing Super Egg Hunt Plus
Super Egg Hunt Plus can be purchased from either LWorks or AT Guys for $15. Upon purchase, you will receive registration info for the game. The process of installing and registering the game is quite straightforward. You can use the speech output from your screen reader during installation, but Erven talks you through the process as well. Once things are set up, you will not need to have your screen reader running as the game is self voicing.
Playing Super Egg Hunt Plus
Both the game commands and the plot are simple. You move around a grid with your Up, Down, Right and Left Arrow keys, picking up beeping Easter eggs. Collect as many eggs as you can within a certain time limit, by simply centering the beeping eggs in your stereo field and moving over them. Avoid Mr. McChicken, who doesn't like you stealing his eggs. The chicken will peck you if he can, causing you to move randomly elsewhere on the grid and lose your remaining game-play time as well. Collect clocks to add play time to your round, and boost your speed by collecting a certain number of eggs in a given time. Clocks freeze the chicken—or chickens, in some game modes—and you can even kill those pesky birds if conditions are just right.
Super Egg Hunt Plus has 13 game-play modes that are unlocked as you advance. In addition to the various modes, you can collect 92 trophies. Some of these trophies are what one might expect, such as beating your highest score in a game or collecting a certain number of eggs in total, but others, such as beating the high score of one of the game's beta testers, are not so obvious.
In Classic mode, which is available by itself for free, you simply move around the grid and pick up as many eggs as possible in three minutes. Eggs that are behind you beep at a lower pitch than those ahead of you. As you move around with the Arrow keys, it sounds like you are walking through straw or tall grass. The music is fun and the text-to-speech voice that gives you periodic encouragement is a nice touch. At the end of a round you're told what your score is for that round, and if you have achieved a new high score. You can post your new high score to an online scoreboard and you are told if your score made it to the top-ten list.
Normal Mode provides nice outdoor sounds with chirping birds in the background. In this mode, you are introduced to elements that you will find throughout the game including chickens, clocks, boost mode, etc.
Of all the available game modes in Super Egg Hunt Plus, my favorite is ChickenCoop. I have literally spent hours playing in this mode. In ChickenCoop, the search grid is smaller, but many chickens come at you as you collect eggs. Collect five eggs in ten seconds and you'll enter boost mode for a short time. You can really collect some eggs in that state. Collect a clock while in boost mode and you can kill a chicken if you manage to occupy the same square as the chicken. There might be a trophy in it for you if you kill enough of the little critters, but that's all I'll say about that for now. In ChickenCoop mode, your footsteps go from a soft surface to a hard one as though you were indoors, and even the clucking chickens have a bit of room ambience. Thee are just a couple of the nice touches that make LWorks games stand out from the pack ... or perhaps the flock.
In Minute Rush, you collect as many eggs as you can in 60 seconds. No chickens; only a ticking clock and lots of eggs to collect.
In Survival mode, there is no time limit. Simply move around the grid collecting eggs and avoid the chicken at all costs. If he pecks you, you're done. As time progresses, the chicken eventually moves at warp speed. You will most definitely get caught in the end.
Other game modes mix things up a bit, literally and figuratively. In Mixup, eggs and clocks randomly move around the game play area, while Mixup Remix makes things randomize more frequently. Hyper Hunt causes everything to happen faster than normal.
In some modes, collecting clocks actually makes you lose time, while other modes reverse all of your movements so that the Right Arrow key moves you left, and the Left Arrow key moves you right. If that isn't enough for you, still other modes cause different combinations of previously mentioned actions to occur.
The Bottom Line
Super Egg Hunt Plus checks all the right boxes. The plot is humorous and game play is challenging without being so difficult that you'll lose interest. The ambient sounds in the game's various modes, including chirping birds when outdoors and room sounds when indoors, add dimension to the experience. The sounds required for successful game play, including eggs, chickens, clocks, and time cues are all easily distinguishable from one another. The range of game modes and trophies, make the game very replayable. I played the game regularly several years ago, but lost it during a computer crash. I have only recently begun playing it again. I started from square one (no pun intended), earning trophies and unlocking game modes. I unlocked all the game modes during my earlier game play, but I never have managed to win all the trophies. I suppose I'll just keep pecking away at the problem, so to speak.
Product Information
Game Title: Super Egg Hunt Plus Price: $15 Purchase Super Egg Hunt Plus from LWorks Alternatively, you can purchase Super Egg Hunt Plus from AT Guys.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
Related articles:
- Game Review: Release Your Inner Child with The Great Toy Robbery by Jamie Pauls
- AudioWizards from MyTrueSound: A Sound Investment for Blind Gamers by Jamie Pauls
More by this author:
