Software:The Book of Unwritten Tales

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The Book of Unwritten Tales
The Book of Unwritten Tales
Cover art
Developer(s)King Art Games[1]
Publisher(s)Microsoft Windows
OS X, Linux
  • WW: Nordic Games
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X, Linux[2]
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • EU: April 2, 2009
  • NA: October 28, 2011
  • UK: October 28, 2011
  • AU: April 12, 2012
  • WW: July 31, 2012 (Steam)[3]
OS X
March 29, 2012
Linux
November 6, 2012
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Book of Unwritten Tales is a point-and-click adventure video game created by German developer King Art Games. A prequel called The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles was released in 2012. A sequel, The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, was released on February 20, 2015.[4]

Gameplay

Gameplay sample

The game challenges the player with a series of puzzles and brain teasers presented as a traditional point and click adventure game. The puzzles are embedded in an adventure story that takes most players an average of 20 hours to complete. There are 60 locations to explore with a total of 40 non-player characters and about 250 interactible items.

A notable feature of The Book of Unwritten Tales is that the player controls four different characters. In some scenes it is possible to switch between two or three active characters. Making explicit use of this mechanic, some puzzles require the playable characters to exchange items or otherwise cooperate.

Plot

In a world torn by war, the aged gremlin archaeologist Mortimer McGuffin harbors the dark secret of a powerful artifact. Whoever calls this artifact its own will determine the fate of the world. While the Army of Shadows sends out its best and most devious agents to discover the secret, the Alliance's three heroes find themselves involuntarily drawn into the crisis...

Reception

Domestic

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PC Games85%[5]
GameStar85/100[6]
4Players85/100[7]

International

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic82/100[8]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure Gamers4.5/5 stars[9]
Destructoid8.5/10[10]
GamePro3.5/5 stars[11]
GamesMaster81%[12]
GameSpot8/10[13]
GameSpy3.5/5 stars[14]
GameZone9/10[15]
IGN9/10[3]
PC PowerPlay7/10[16]
The Digital Fix8/10[17]
The Escapist5/5 stars[18]

The Book of Unwritten Tales received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[8]

The Escapist gave it all five stars and said, "If you're going to try and woo a modern gaming audience with old-fashioned gameplay, you'd better be pretty special. The Book of Unwritten Tales is. It's smart, funny, [and] well-crafted and has tons of heart."[18] 411Mania gave it 8.1 out of 10 and said that the game "harkens back to the golden age of point-and-clicks and does a great job of it. Fans of the genre will love seeing a new entry into the genre that's enjoyable to play. Other PC gamers may want to check it out, as even the puzzles don't require a huge amount of thinking to solve."[19] The Digital Fix gave it eight out of ten and called it "a thoroughly entertaining and engaging adventure game with a classic fantasy storyline, well thought-out plot lines, loveable characters, and plenty of humour that is must for anybody who likes point and click adventures".[17]

In 2011, Adventure Gamers named The Book of Unwritten Tales the 64th-best adventure game ever released.[20]

References

  1. "Book of Unwritten Tales - KING Art Games - Computerspiele-Entwicklung, Design und Programmierung für PC, Browser und online" (in German). Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120626100947/http://www.kingart.de/unwritten_tales.html. Retrieved August 21, 2012. 
  2. "The Book of Unwritten Tales" (in German). http://www.application-systems.de/bookofunwrittentales/. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Michael, Jon (August 15, 2012). "The Book of Unwritten Tales Review". Ziff Davis. http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/15/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-review. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  4. "The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Release!!!". February 20, 2015. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150221151445/http://www.kingart-games.de/en/blog/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-2-release-2/. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  5. Schütz, Felix (April 9, 2004). "The Book of Unwritten Tales-Test: Der Adventure-Hit aus Deutschland". PC Games. Archived from the original. Error: If you specify |archiveurl=, you must also specify |archivedate=. https://web.archive.org/web/20090411102637/http://www.pcgames.de/aid,681236/The-Book-of-Unwritten-Tales-Test-Der-Adventure-Hit-aus-Deutschland/PC/Test/. 
  6. Matschijewsky, Daniel (April 7, 2009). "Witziges und spannend erzähltes Adventure" (in German). GameStar. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111008033336/http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/the-book-of-unwritten-tales/test/the_book_of_unwritten_tales,44507,1955203.html. 
  7. Wöbbeking, Jan (April 2, 2009). "The Book of Unwritten Tales" (in German). 4Players. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090421082621/http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/PC-CDROM/Test/11013/62888/0/The_Book_of_Unwritten_Tales.html. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "The Book of Unwritten Tales for PC Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/the-book-of-unwritten-tales/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. Retrieved August 21, 2012. 
  9. Raha, Shuva (October 28, 2011). "The Book of Unwritten Tales Review". https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18201. Retrieved June 3, 2018. 
  10. Duncan, Alasdair (November 1, 2011). "Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales". Enthusiast Gaming. https://www.destructoid.com/review-the-book-of-unwritten-tales-214897.phtml. Retrieved June 3, 2018. 
  11. Matulef, Jeffrey (October 28, 2011). "Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC)". GamePro (GamePro Media). Archived from the original on October 29, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111029202302/http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/224395/review-the-book-of-unwritten-tales-pc/. Retrieved June 3, 2018. 
  12. "The Book of Unwritten Tales". GamesMaster (Future plc): 101. February 2012. 
  13. Todd, Brett (December 1, 2011). "The Book of Unwritten Tales Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-review/1900-6346897/. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  14. Nelson, Mike (July 30, 2012). "The Book of Unwritten Tales Review". Ziff Davis. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-book-of-unwritten-tales/1225591p1.html. Retrieved June 3, 2018. 
  15. Carmichael, Stephanie (August 15, 2012). "The Book of Unwritten Tales review". Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120825131641/http://www.gamezone.com/products/the-book-of-unwritten-tales/reviews/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-review. Retrieved June 3, 2018. 
  16. "Review: The Book of Unwritten Tales". PC PowerPlay (Next Media Pty Ltd) (207): 81. October 2012. 
  17. 17.0 17.1 Ellwood, Steve (August 17, 2012). "The Book of Unwritten Tales Review". Poisonous Monkey. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160505162910/http://gaming.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/1073/the-book-of-unwritten-tales.html. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  18. 18.0 18.1 Arendt, Susan (August 8, 2012). "[The Book of Unwritten Tales Review"]. Defy Media. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/9850-Book-of-Unwritten-Tales-Review. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  19. Larck, Adam (July 30, 2012). "The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) Review". Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120804062115/http://www.411mania.com/games/reviews/248682. Retrieved June 2, 2018. 
  20. AG Staff (December 30, 2011). "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120604021011/http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18643. 

External links