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| Gameplay showing capture of Imperial Spanish Eagle |
Join Alba as she visits her grandparents on a Mediterranean island. She is ready for a peaceful summer of wildlife exploration with her friend Ines, but when she sees an animal in danger, she realises she needs to do something about it!
My quest to relax more effectively continues. I made a list of relaxing games which I plan to work through in order to decompress; the first on this list was a little game called Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. I played on iOS with the Backbone controller, with no issues.
The premise of this game is fairly simple: you play as Alba, a child exploring an island with her friend as part of their "organization" (AIWRL), dedicated to restoring the nature preserve on the island and stopping the construction of a hotel that will flatten and commoditize the beautiful local biome. The undertones are clear and the message isn't particularly subtle, but well-received nonetheless. As you play, you listen for rare and interesting animals, which you photograph and identify. The game takes place in stages, with each stage corresponding to one day on the island.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game. Out of the box, it immediately helped me achieve my primary aim, which was to relax. The game is very cheerful, with a simple but beautiful design. The gameplay was very simple to pick up, with a non-existent learning curve and not too many things to remember, which is good for someone trying to discharge after a long day of remembering things and thinking too hard. Underlying the entire experience is an upbeat and light-hearted soundtrack, with the tranquil sounds of the island's twinkling in the background. The leaves rustle in the trees, the wind is gentle, and in the distance, waves crash on the shore. As each stage winds down, the Sun gradually gets lower and you get lulled into a sleepy sunset, which helped slow me down enough to fall asleep a little faster whenever I played it.
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| View from above the nature preserve, which you repair as part of the game. I greatly enjoyed some of the "view" spots, where you could sit and watch the sun set or keep an eye out for the next animal on your list. |
The mild list of chores and animals to track down never felt overwhelming or discouraging, and you can progress the story without finding everything. I might try to go back and find everything at some point as I think I only found ~80% of the animals in Alba's field guide. I so got used to listening for birds in the game that I started doing it in real life too, which I admit surprised me! The stages are nicely scoped to take 20-30 minutes each, so it never felt like a huge commitment to complete one as I was winding down for the evening. I was pleased to find that despite it technically counting as more screen time, I was still able to relax, which I attribute to the peaceful soundscape.
All in all, I had a good time and certainly felt more relaxed after playing than I did before. I will keep an eye out for similar games in the future, and if you have any recommendations please let me know.
I appreciate the mission of the game, and want to plug some of the organizations promoted in the game here as well: AIWRL, WWF.
"Everybody understands trees," says Maria Sayans, CEO of Ustwo games. It's maybe not the kind of pitch we're used to hearing from developers, but that sentiment does get to the roots of Ustwo's mission. In just two months this indie developer has helped plant more than half a million trees with its 2020 release Alba: A Wildlife Adventure.
Alba has become the mascot for the tree-planting project and Ustwo's goal for a more environmentally kind world. Her face is the logo on Ustwo's Ecologi page, which also happens to be named Alba's Forest. Her in-game conservation group, AIWRL, is used to promote initiatives that Ustwo games work with.
Previously on this blog:
