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Zack and Wiki Analysis

Page history last edited by Max Gibson 14 years, 4 months ago

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Release Date: October 23, 2007

 

Description

“A fantastic point and click puzzle game, Zack & Wiki deserves to be played. It's creative, charming and very very well designed. Each area represents its own self-contained puzzle, and while the solution is invariably relatively straightforward, discovering how things fit together and thinking laterally make beating each room a heap of fun.” –IGN

 

Game Walkthrough

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure is a point and click adventure game. The player points to a location or object on the screen and taps a button moving Zack to the position or interact with the object. To interact with objects, the player often has to perform some sort of motion with the Wii remote that mimics the motion that must be performed by Zack. Shaking the Wii remote turns Wiki into a bell, which can turn animals into tools (or tools back into animals), collect loose coins or eliminate a curse on a treasure chest. Coins can be used to buy hints, the ability to restart a level from the point of the last death or the services of another pirate to go find treasure around the world.

 

Playthrough 

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Timestamps

 

  

 

Game Objectives

The straightforward goal of each level of the game is to reach and open the treasure chest. However, the larger overall objective of the game is to find all the pieces of Barbaros to put him back together. In turn, Barbaros will give Zack his old ship, which will take him to the greatest treasures in the world.

 

Motivational Elements     

The Wii motion controls make the game more than just another point and click adventure. The controls help engross players into the game. The difficulty of the game will leave players feeling quite accomplished upon beating each level. Plus most levels have additional treasures to collect on top of the main ones. Players will want to beat a music mini-game on certain levels in order to upgrade Wiki (make his bell form better at collecting coins).

 

Educational Outcomes

While Zack & Wiki is a challenging puzzle game that requires great amounts of thought, most of what can be learned from the game is difficult to extend to the real world. The puzzles will get the creative juices flowing as the player searches for solutions. The game is likely to get players to work on their problem solving techniques and creative thinking. The puzzles can be quite difficult, but there are options to help players through. While only one player can actually control Zack, others can participate by drawing on the screen allowing more experienced players to help guide younger players through levels. Not only does this give younger players a chance to develop their puzzle solving abilities, but gives the more experienced players a chance to learn how to properly provide support without taking over. Also the game lets the player to buy hints. Using a small amount of information to spur grander ideas is a useful talent that the game may help develop.

The immersive Wii controls in addition to having real world objects in the game contribute to the educational value of the game. Players will discover that objects have more than one use in for solving puzzles. Players then may look at tools in the real world and not just see them as tools for one particular function. While a player cannot turn tools into animals in real life, he will be able to use the tools in similar manners (with similar motions) as in the game. If nothing else, Zack & Wiki is a game that makes the player think, and think hard.

 

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