I’m late to the party, as usual. But this was worth the wait. I’ve just started playing through Never Alone, and am only complete with one level. Well, I helped my kids play through it, I didn’t control anything. I’ll make a new game for myself as soon as possible.

Never Alone is a wonderful experience, and a beautiful game thrice over. Take a look:

Never Alone - Game Trailer from Never Alone on Vimeo.

The Art and Art Direction is awesome. It’s simplified to allow focus on the characters and environment, without being too sparse. The environments are alive, even in the frozen tundra they are depicting. There’s a richness in the mostly white color scheme (I mean there’s a lot of snow). It just looks great.

It’s well designed. The switching of players is easy, fast and intuitive. The controls are simple and smooth. I’m playing this on my mac laptop via the keyboard, so no controller. I may see if I can hook up a PS3 controller.

The story is simple and elegant. A good retelling of the hero’s journey. The addition of the well executed supplemental educational materials was very interesting to my kids. They liked popping into the video to dig deeper. So far the videos have been the perfect length to further inform, but not distract from the gameplay itself.

I’ll have more to say as I progress in the game. All I can say now is this is a great experience. It’s the kind of game that is educational and fun. It’s playable art.