Big Brain Wolf
- November 5, 2009
- Frima
Get on Steam"Big Brain Wolf" is a humorous point-and-click adventure game that follows an asthmatic vegetarian wolf studying to be a genie. The game features 60 challenging puzzles, 20 of which are spread across five chapters of captivating story. Players can also improve their problem-solving abilities with six brain training exercises designed by neuroscientists. The game offers 10 original STEAM achievements and a unique soundtrack by a jazz quartet.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a charming cartoonish art style and a quirky atmosphere that draws players in.
- Some puzzles are engaging and can provide a good challenge, appealing to puzzle enthusiasts.
- The story incorporates humorous twists on classic fairy tales, adding a unique flavor to the gameplay.
- The character moves very slowly, making navigation tedious and frustrating.
- Many puzzles are either too easy or too vague, leading to confusion and reliance on guides.
- The dialogue can be overly lengthy and uninteresting, detracting from the overall experience.
- story74 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The story of "Big Brain Wolf" features a quirky premise centered around an asthmatic, vegetarian wolf who must solve puzzles to prove his mother's innocence, but many players find the narrative forgettable and the dialogue tedious. While some appreciate the humor and light atmosphere, others criticize the plot as shallow and unengaging, suggesting that the game is better enjoyed for its puzzle-solving elements rather than its storyline. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop to the gameplay, with mixed opinions on its execution and appeal.
“Big Brain Wolf combines the story with the puzzle-solving aspects where, in order to proceed with the story, you need to unravel some 60 puzzles of varying difficulty in five chapters.”
“In the story, the protagonist is an asthmatic, vegetarian wolf who is a novitiate genie in training who has set on the path of solving puzzles to prove his mother's innocence.”
“I would love to recommend this game; it has great visuals, an engaging storyline, and clever puzzles.”
“I was looking for another Professor Layton style game; however, this one has only 60 puzzles, a forgettable story, and no easy way to go back to puzzles you may have missed.”
“The story took me around 5 hours to complete, and I do not recall enjoying one minute of it.”
“It tries to be a Professor Layton clone, and the puzzles are decent, but the story is annoying, I hate all the characters, and you have to wade through tons and tons of dialogue which thinks it's being ridiculously clever, when really it's just annoying.”
- graphics28 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Big Brain Wolf" feature a charming cartoonish art style that appeals to both children and adults, though some reviewers noted a decline in visual quality as the game progresses. While the character design is generally considered decent, there are criticisms regarding the user interface and overall graphical fidelity, with some suggesting it resembles outdated technology. Overall, the visuals are described as acceptable but not groundbreaking, complementing the game's lighthearted tone and humor.
“Right from the start, the art style hits me.”
“I would love to recommend this game; it has great visuals, an engaging storyline, and clever puzzles.”
“You will like this if you can appreciate a well-written and witty story that appeals to both adults and children in a pleasing-to-look-at art style, which is tied together gameplay-wise by logic puzzles.”
“Graphics and music-wise it feels like they had quite a budget at the beginning but by the end of the game they started to run out of money.”
“It also doesn't help that the graphical display looks to have been built around a 486 with 640x320 resolution.”
“Decent character design and visuals but.. a strange UI, annoying voices, puzzles thrown at you for no reason, crappy story, very shallow.. likely a kids game as the target audience and might entertain them greatly, who knows!”
- humor16 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in "Big Brain Wolf" receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its cute art style and pop-culture references, while others find it stale and not consistently effective. Although the game features a reasonably funny story and some silly moments, many feel that the humor doesn't fully compensate for the gameplay challenges. Overall, it may appeal more to teenagers and adults who enjoy lighthearted narratives.
“If you like a bit of humor with your puzzles and some nostalgia with your Steam collection, give it a try.”
“Cute art style and some nice silly humor.”
“It has a pretty funny fairytale backstory.”
- gameplay10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for being slow-paced, primarily involving waiting for the wolf to move between puzzles, which detracts from the overall experience. While the art and humor are appreciated, many players find the constant dialogue reading tedious and the gameplay mechanics flawed, making it a struggle to engage with the game despite its appealing story and puzzles.
“Well, the art is nice and the puzzles range from obvious to challenging, but there are some flaws in the actual gameplay.”
“You will like this if you can appreciate a well-written and witty story that appeals to both adults and children in a pleasing art style, which is tied together gameplay-wise by logic puzzles.”
“Most of the gameplay is waiting for the wolf to walk across the screen to the next puzzle.”
“Basically, I just find the mechanic of constantly reading or skipping dialogue unenjoyable.”
“It looks nice and has decent humor, but I found it not worth the effort of struggling against the poor gameplay.”
- music6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in "Big Brain Wolf" is generally considered acceptable, contributing to the game's overall experience, though it appears to lose quality as the game progresses, suggesting a diminishing budget. While the soundtrack features pop-culture references, the humor associated with it is often described as stale. Overall, the music is deemed decent but not exceptional.
“Graphics and music-wise, it feels like they had quite a budget at the beginning, but by the end of the game, they started to run out of money.”
“Many pop-culture puns and jokes from movies, shows, books, music, etc. The humor is... stale most of the time.”
“Big Brain Wolf is a decent game by all means - reasonably funny story, decent puzzles, acceptable visuals and music.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by its charming and quirky elements that draw players in, creating a light yet engaging environment. This appealing ambiance complements the captivating story and challenging puzzles, enhancing the overall experience.
“There's a lot of charm, and the quirky atmosphere pulls you in.”
“The story keeps you hooked; the atmosphere is light but engaging, and the puzzles really test your brain.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is highly variable; while some players appreciate the additional puzzles and adjustable difficulty levels that enhance replay value, others find the core gameplay repetitive and lacking in incentive to revisit. Overall, opinions are divided, with some enjoying the challenge and others feeling it offers little to no replayability.
“This obviously gives it a lot of replayability that the story part of the game doesn't have, and the fairly widely scaling automatic difficulty levels these extra puzzles have built in should make it suitable for a quite wide range of abilities.”
“The game has absolutely zero replayability; the puzzles, although challenging and fun, you can’t pay me enough to do them again. It's mind-numbingly repetitive.”
“The game lacks replayability because the story part is not engaging enough, and while the extra puzzles have varying difficulty levels, they don't compensate for the overall experience.”
- character development4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally perceived as shallow, with a focus on fun character design and humor rather than depth. While the visuals and jokes are appreciated, the overall narrative lacks substance, making it more suitable for a younger audience.
“But ignoring all that, there's still a pleasant little game here full of some good jokes, fun character design, and a nice little story to wrap it all up.”
“Decent character design and visuals, but the character development feels very shallow. The story is lacking depth, and the overall experience seems more suited for a younger audience.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it involves repetitive and mediocre puzzles that simply extend in length without offering new challenges or variety.
“Tedious and mediocre puzzles that repeat themselves, just longer versions.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is focused on enhancing player performance through a scientifically-informed approach, providing clear and accessible feedback for improvement. This method effectively targets various cognitive functions, making the development process straightforward for users.
“With a short scientific background and a few pointers, they aim at various functions of the human brain - they measure the player's performance and offer development in an easy-to-understand manner.”
