Abuba The Alien
When we send men and women into space, we go to great pains to make sure that they are highly trained, physically fit, and the best of the best. Many have multiple degrees, doctorates and pilots licenses, and they endure a long, rigorous training regimen that will ensure if ever they end up stranded somewhere their survival skills will be up to the task. It's a pity that aliens from far off galaxies don't see it the same way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have Abuba the Alien, a basic point-and-click adventure created by Robin Vencel of Pencilkids.
Abuba is most definitely not ready to survive in the hostile environment that is suburbia. Cold, hungry, tired, and scared after crash landing Abuba just wants to phone... er, just wants to go home. It is up to you, intrepid gamer, to help him (her? it?) find food, warmth, and a way to call the folks to come get Abuba, who speaks and acts like a 4 year old.
Escort Abuba through the neighborhood and help him (her? it?) take care of basic needs and eventually phone...er, go home. Any resemblance to another cute lost alien is, surely, entirely coincidental. Unfortunately the road home is never easy, so it will be necessary to find and use a lot of objects (and break a ton of laws), as well as participate in some mild animal cruelty to set Abuba on his path.
Gameplay is simple and straightforward. The cursor changes to a hand when hovered over usable objects, so pixel hunting is at a minimum. Pick up and combine objects to accomplish the goal of the screen, whether to feed the little alien or find another piece of his (hers? its?) complicated communication gadget so Abuba can go home.
Analysis: Rendered in a very Saturday morning cartoon-like style, Abuba the Alien is none-the-less a fun little time waster. The artwork is vividly done in shades of dark blue (it is, after all, a dark and stormy night). Cute little animations, twinkling stars, unobtrusive music, and other sound effects show that although it may be geared for kids, Abuba the Alien is still a well thought out, well put together little adventure, albeit an easy one. Most experienced gamers will blow through this thing in about 10 minutes or less.
There are some minor quibbles. Abuba can get a little annoying after a while. Some of the actions involved in getting Abuba home are overly complicated or defy logic altogether. There is also a lot of law-breaking involved, mostly destruction of personal property. Since the game appears to be targeted toward a younger audience, is this the sort of message we want to be sending? Oh well, at least Abuba is polite. Manners are important, kids! Especially when committing property crimes. When playing you run the risk of an ad popping up halfway through the game as well.
Still, despite the problems, Abuba the Alien is a cute, fun way to chase away the Monday morning blahs. Forget the coffee, take a casual gameplay break and help get Abuba home! Abuba say thank you. And so do we.
Cutest voice ever. Fun game too.
Abuba the Alien Walkthrough
Landing Site
Aww, cute alien stranded in the tree.
Click on the trash can lid to open it.
Click on the trash to pick up a wire.
Use the wire on the padlock on the shed to the right of the tree.
Click on the door to open it and take the saw.
Use the saw on the tree branch holding the parachute.
Click on Abuba.
Abuba say thank you.
Scary Dog
Click on the mailbox to open it.
Take the milk from the mailbox and put it in the dog dish.
Click on the shrub in the extreme foreground (just above the WWW of the www.pencilkids.com) and a hedgehog will run out.
Pick up the hedgehog and put it in the dog bowl with the milk.
Click on the dog to wake him up.
The dog will scare Abuba then drink some milk. The hedgehog will send him running back into the dog house (is this animal cruelty?).
Once the dog has disappeared click on Abuba.
Abuba say thank you.
Open Manhole
Okay, Abuba has fallen into an open manhole, let's get him out.
On the building you will notice a drainpipe that has come away from the wall. Click on it to take it.
Use the pipe to jimmy open the trunk of the car. Goody, breaking and entering. And burglary, as well.
Take the rope from the trunk and click it on Abuba. It will go over the lamppost and tie itself to the dumpster.
Click on the dumpster. Goody, now Abuba is suspended.
Pick up the brick and use it to break the glass on the newspaper stand. Why not add destruction of personal property to the charge list?
Click on Abuba to make him sway.
Once Abuba is swinging pick up the broken glass and use it on the rope.
Click on Abuba.
Abuba say thank you.
Dumpster
Oh great, now it's hungry.
Click on the crate on the dumpster several times until it slides off.
Click on the dumpster lid then quickly click on the pipe on the ground in front of the dumpster. The pipe will hold the dumpster lid open.
Click on the trash 4 or 5 times until a pizza box comes flying out.
Click on the pizza box, pick up the pizza, and feed it to Abuba.
Abuba say thank you.
Vending Machine
Great, now it's thirsty.
Click on the "out of order" sign on the parking meter, then click on the meter. Goody, a coin!
Pick up the coin and use it on the vending machine slot, then push the bottom button.
Sigh. It's never that easy, is it?
Click on the side of the vending machine to make it give up the soda.
Pick up the soda and give it to Abuba.
Now click on the trash to pick up the straw. Put the straw in the soda so Abuba can drink.
Abuba say thank you.
Park
Okay, now it's raining and Abuba is cold.
Click on the broken umbrella in the trash (right side of the screen). The umbrella handle will come flying off.
Click on the lower tree branch to break it off. It will fall next to the umbrella handle.
There is a box on top of clothing at the lower left of the screen. Click on it twice to reveal a boot.
Click on the shoelace and use it to tie the umbrella handle to the branch.
Use the makeshift hook on the clothing bin door to acquire a sweater.
Put the sweater on Abuba.
Abuba say thank you.
Waterfront
Okay, Abuba wants to go home. And we want him to go home.
Click on the lost cat poster on the tree.
Click on the garbage bin (ashtray?) in the foreground, a pencil case will come flying out.
Click on the pencil case to get a pencil. Click on the pencil and it will fly to Abuba.
Click on Abuba's drawing to examine it, then click again to make it go away.
Abuba say thank you.
Satellite Dish
Click on the crate to open it.
Click on the inside of the crate and out pops a fire hose.
Click on one end of the hose and it will attach itself to a faucet. Click on the other end and it will tie itself to the satellite dish.
Turn on the faucet.
Put the satellite dish in the wagon and click on the wagon.
Abuba say thank you.
Phone Booth
Click on the trash can in front of the hair salon to knock it over.
Pick up the plank of wood leaning on the left of the building and put it on the trash can.
Pick up the brick from the street and put it on the wood plank. You now have an improvised see-saw.
Click on the end of the see-saw that is empty and commit some more senseless acts of vandalism. This will get you the giant scissors.
Click on the phone booth to open it.
Click on the phone receiver to remove it from the cradle.
Pick up the giant scissors and cut the phone cord.
Put the receiver in the wagon and click the wagon.
Abuba say thank you.
Merry-Go-Round
Click on the toolbox to open it.
Pick up the screwdriver and use it on the plate of the electrical box. You need to use it on all four screws.
Once the screws are gone click on the plate to remove it. Look, a pipe puzzle!
Rotate the tiles so that current can flow from one yellow light to the other. Screenshot.
Click on the plug to plug it in.
Pull the lever on the electrical box.
The merry-go-round-will start up and the big light will fall into the wagon.
Click on the wagon.
Abuba say thank you.
Enjoy the cut scene. Abuba phone...er, Abuba go home.
Fun but super easy game.
One request though, a pause option. I'm playing during free time at work and not being able to pause the game almost got my countdown to zero before I managed to finish it.
In response to review, Abuba speaks and acts like a 4 year old because he is very young.
When you finish the game you get the link to see what happened afterwards.
Remember kids, no matter how cute the alien is, stealing TV reception is still WRONG.
Wow. Must be hard when you have no arms and a 10 word vocabulary. Im pretty sure his ship was sabotaged and not an accident. If it had been up to me I would have left him there. But then again, now he is out of our hair. Yay rescue ship!
I just watched the video at the end, the one Toni pointed out. That just made it so much more disturbing O_O
From the film at the end, it shows that Abuba is
unremorseful/unrespectful liar, as can be seen from his fake tears and immediate disobedience. =(
Fun little game, but basically everything that went on in the whole game and video afterwards, you would not want a kid to see, except maybe the "help others" part. Not only were the methods illegal, as many of you pointed out, after a while you just get the sense that the little alien is using you. It leads into the question of: teaching kids to say please and thank you is good... but at what point do you cross the line into teaching kids that they can have anything theywant and people have to cater to theirevery whim as long as they say "please and thank you"? Actully, Abuba didn't even say please. He just cried and stated his problem. Gah! *head explodes*
Gender confirmed: Abuba is a boy.
Very cute =) Easy game, but I liked. Thanks!
Give me a break, enough with the politically correct nonsense already! This game mimics the plot of E.T. which has been deemed suitable for millions of kids. The Witch Mountain movies are another kids series which teaches children that human laws don't apply to aliens and that it is ok to steal if your life depends on it.
I'm with Flakey here, it seems silly to get all freaked out over this game. It's a game about helping someone get home. That's a GOOD thing to have a game about.
Aside from the minor harm to the dog no one is being hurt in this game. Yes. Property was damaged. But guess what...there are more important things in the world than satellite dishes and pay phones. Like helping out little kids for instance (alien or not...that's what he is).
As for him being an "unremorseful/disrespectful liar" as proved in the video. I did some pretty terrible stuff to my parents when I was a really little kid. I ran off on my mom one time when we were at the mall and she had to chase after me into the crowd.
My point is who DIDN'T do stupid stuff when they were four years old? At that point in your life the concepts of respect and remorse are still forming.
Lol, anyway. I thought the game was pretty fun. Not perfect, but definitely well produced.
My guess is the target audience isn't children. Even so, I think their sense of fantasy vs. reality (i.e. using that peice of wood to break that store window isn't a good idea) is better than you are giving them credit for.
Is there a reason you brought up children in relation to this game to begin with, though?
As far as the game went. Abuba was certainly an endearing character, but I won't wake up tomorrow and tell someone they need to play this awesome game.
Can anyone give me the link for the video thing? I beat the game but must have missed it. And I really didn't think it was cute enough to play again. The last level had me flipping my lid.
How were you supposed to know that was a SCREWDRIVER?? I thought it was a needle.
Very cute game; however the spelling on the ending/score screen is, er, "apauling too see".
I think people are upset because almost every problem has to be solved with an act of vandalism:
You don't just open the shed door, you have to pick the lock first. Then you break some glass to cut a rope. Then you cut a phone cord. But of course, you don't steal the pizza, you get that crusty out of the dumpster (shudder).
But really, it's just a game. Why do we have to moralize about stuff like this? Didn't people ever do bad things before video/computer games came along?
Hey, someone just stole my soapbox! Get back here, you little...
Impractical and illeagal problem-solving (which, in computer/video games, I have no problem with) aside, Abuba is the cutest extra-terrestrial I've ever seen/heard. Even cuter than that E.T. thing from the 80's.
Let me restate my own personal opinion on this destruction-of-property thing. While I am a supporter of law and order, these situations as they exist in this form are, for the most part, harmless. But, I do understand, sort of, parents, wanting to bring up law-abiding children, objecting to this depiction. But, to me, what a parent could do (read: a suggestion) is allow the game to be played and, if the parent sees a serious need (emphasis on serious) to do this, discuss the game afterwards. Considering the possible age group involved, this may happen anyway because little kids (elementary school) rarely do anything unsupervised in the first place.
Summary: Abuba's cute; game's okay with me; seriously concerned parents should talk to their kids after the game; porbably happens anyway.
Wow - do we give much credo to our kids for their intelligence in discerning what is real and what is not?
Very cute game - loved the background music while I played and the ambience of the night sky and dark blue hues. And the little bugger said 'Thank You' each time. I don't care if he was manipulating me, he was darn cute and more polite than alot of young earthlings.
@ Chiktionary
Some kids can and some kids can't. I'm not sure if you mean that we give kids too much or not enough credit. I rember reading about kids jumping off balconies because they thought they could fly (bad place to start if you ask me). Also, kids burying their friends in sand because of some Naruto stuff (I like manga/anime, just not Naruto). I'm sure there are a lot of kids who can tell the difference. It's just that I'm so detached from kids' way of thinking that I (and everyone here above a certain age) can't understand how anyone could confuse reality with fantasy. My head hurts just thinking about it.
I'm going to have "Abuba say thank you" in my head for days now...
Abuba say Dank Yuu!
This is a very cute and nicely done game. Very enjoyable :)
Maybe there will be a sequel one day?
Abuba, like human kids, just doesn't understand the consequences of his actions. After that ordeal, you'd think he'd know not to run off in the mini-saucer. Ah, kids, they just live in the moment, y'know?
Yet, he's smart enough to jury rig a long distance radio from available parts--and how'd he know what was available on earth, or how to speak English?
That little alien is the weakest alien I have ever seen. I like how well the little wimp is drawn but for a creature that could make a spaceship superior to NASA's dreams he really can't handle a normal problem of any kind. It can't even feed itself. How it survived on it's home planet is beyond me.
A very cute voice. i am a child myself and that vandilism is unacceptable!
Cute? Abuba had the most annoying voice I have ever heard. All this vandalism and stealing for a tiny little alien who whines in a squeaky little voice and gives me crocodile tears every chance he gets.
"Abuba scared."
"Oh, poor baby."
"Abuba cold."
"Um. Okay then."
"Abuba hungry."
"Huff. Fine, here."
"Abuba thirsty."
"Seriously?! There, happy?"
"Abuba say tha-"
"Abuba needs to shut his yap."
I ♥ this game!!
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