Reviews

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  EdenStarGazer

  Jul 28, 2016

  [h1]The title “Help: The Game” is simply a sub-browser for launching each of the 12 games. You can simply launch them from within Steam, but the sub-browser gives a little more overview.[/h1] Charities raise money for diverse causes every day and you are presented with many requests, even here where you are gaming. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself if, one, this charity is a cause you’d like to help, and 2, if what you are getting in return is worth it to you. [b]The Games:[/b] The games fall into two groups, those with a more serious story for adults and those intended as simple action games for all ages, with some tie in to an aspect of war that uses a repetitive skill or action. I’m sure different people will be drawn to different games within the set. But, I was interested mainly in the serious stories. I did try a couple of the rote games, and found them playable and probably interesting for many gamers. I’ll describe the games I tried briefly. [b]Serious Stories: * Savana – A simple point& click ten minute voiced story that reveals just how fast a child’s life can be changed forever in war. * Emily: Displaced - A choice based visual novel that reveals what it’s like for children crossing borders, seeking asylum, & living in refugee camps. * Malkia – This title will not load on any pc I’ve tried. It sounds like a good story and I am still interested in trying it if my issue is resolved in the forum, where I’ve reached out to the devs. [b]Rote/Repetitive Action Games:[/b] * Verdant Hue – A p & c action game where you try to farm a field, while dealing with the fact that you only have 1 tool and about a handful of seeds to start a worn out field. You get letters from neighbors asking for gifts. But, the story seems intriguing. * NeverMine – A simple & fun pinball type action game where you try to destroy land mines using basic physics. There are a variety of maps, and each time you play, you’re given scores with a random quote about war, such as “At the current rate of demining, it will take a further 1100 years to remove all landmines.” [h1]War Child and 11 game studios have teamed up to give us something in return for our donation, while also raising our awareness of the problems children face in war-torn countries. The entire project was completed in only 6 days, so it’s a simple set of quickly developed, donated-time games for those who want a chance to join with developers & the gaming community in giving to a worthy cause.
• 

  Pecan

  Jul 31, 2016

  12 games, £10 => charity. The games are a mixed bunch but mostly fun, as you'd expect from the time limit on development. Only one of these wouldn't work for me - Octamari Rescue, which requires a controller.
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  JustAnormalGuy

  Aug 3, 2016

  the games are so good and But for € 15 euros . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C08LMUEmA9A
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  Spooples

  Aug 5, 2016

  It feels good donating to charity It's even better getting some games while you're at it
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  Rocky McRockerson

  Aug 9, 2016

  So this is a game to support charity, and it sounded like the games inside would be pretty neat, so I bought it. I will do a review of each game and not the launcher itself, when I play a game and feel like I can review it, I will review it. Emily: Displaced Review Emily: Displaced is really short, but pretty well made, it's quite obvious that [spoiler]your mother has died[/spoiler] but really, that doesn't make it bad, what is weird though is that deciding to check if the heating is good or checking for supplies in a cupboard will effect where you go, honestly, I think the seeking asylum and the camp endings are the best, with the 3rd one being not good. (This game gets a 7.6/10, mainly because of how short it is.) I can't remember seeking asylum that well, but I will spoil the other two: In the camp, [spoiler]you start a life in what is like that camp in france for refugees seeking asylum in the UK, except it's for people effected by war who are staying in the country, and charities and other people are setting up opertunities to go to school, get a job and much more, then two years later this stuff starts happening, your dad owns a coffee shop and manages to get "the good bread" and your friend at school offers to help you get into a line of work as a drug smuggler.[/spoiler] In the other ending, [spoiler]you find a camp on the border, which is a really shoddy place, people get kidnapped, mugged, murdered and all that, you find a guy there who seems friendly, and your life is rough there but you manage, and the friendly guy has opened up a bar where you are at two years later, and then two or three people come in in balaclavas and start taking vodka, they whisper something about you, and walk up towards you, the friendly man knows what is going to happen, so he distract the three bandits with a gun and tries to get them to get out, you run out of there and you hear gunshots, and I can't remember the rest.[/spoiler] Savanna: A really, really, REALLY short game, I would've only had around 6 minutes of play time or under if I didn't leave my laptop on the main menu, like seriously, the game started and told me a bit about the main character, I then go to collect water because I'm apparently running short of it, I come back with water and the war child charity has appeared and has allowed me to go to school, I cook for a bit and then go to school for a bit, I get up and leave then the village is destroyed, then it talks about how no child should be affected by war, and tells you to go to a link, I honestly think that this game had much potential, but got spoiled by the fact it ends in around 5 minutes, maybe I did something wrong, but who knows? (This game gets a 2.4/10, as it seems to have great potential and is probably longer, but I probably screwed up and did the wrong thing.) Malkia: This probably has to be my favourite so far, it's a game where you're a single mother with around 7 children I believe, you want them to all go to school and you have to run a store, you can send the kids home, to school or to work at the shop, if the child is 9 or under they go to school for free, but if they're 10 or over they have to be paid for, which can be a problem when you don't take notice of any kids you have that are in school, you have to restock your shop with the main stuff you sell, coal and some plants (I can't remember their name) but here's where the good part comes in, you have 4 different locations you can go to, each selling the different things for different prices, and each at different distances, there is a risk of you or your children being kidnapped or killed on the way, so you need to defend them by buying a weapon, which you need a lot of money for, luckily war child has come along and given you 30 dollars for your store, which on my first go I spent on a stick to defend my 16 year old son and some medicine. (which is an issue in this game) you get certain events that happen, like your shop being raided, robbed by corrupt police (which wouldn't happen if you hired a guard.) and then if you go to collect supplies to sell at your store, you get this little video screen, a bunch of events happen where it will either make the time longer or make you lose some health, such as a gun fight breaking out, a traffic jam and other things, which doesn't happen with the children, on my first playthrough, I sent my 16 year old son to get supplies, and then I ran out of money, then my son who had the supplies got kidnapped by military, so my game ended. (This game gets an 8.1/10) Now, to be honest, not all games in this pack are going to be good, but that's fine, I can't like everything, so this itself gets a solid 10/10, it's for charity and you get some sweet games, all for around £10, which is a bargain! TL;DR: A few great games, some short, some kinda long, worth getting at the cheap price, and it helps charity! So if you aren't interested in the games, buy it and give it to a friend who is interested in it!
• 

  Owlmanandy

  Aug 14, 2016

  To be perfectly honest, I recommend this game (or bundle, rather) almost solely for it's charity value. The games within it are nothing special, as, from my experience, they're either poorly optimized or not too much fun. But, credit where credit is due, all the games were made in, what was it, a 72-hour span? So it makes sense. Some of the ideas are original, and my personal favorite game, NeverMine, was quite enjoyable, but (and this is kind of the same with most of the games, or something along these lines) it was stuck with motion blur always on, which not only killed the framerate but also made it kind of motion-sickening to play. So, all things considered, I absolutely recommend everyone buy this bundle, as it supports a worthy cause and the games are unique additions to your steam library, but don't go into these games expecting anything, well, game-changing. There's fun to be had, but not for very long.
• 

  DescX

  Dec 9, 2016

  [i]HELP: THE GAME[/i] is not just a collection of some fun games, despite what people think: it's a virtual "thank you" War Child gives you for donating. You have to keep in mind that you're not really purchasing a game packet, but rather donating to a useful and important cause. The 12 theme-fitting games are small tokens of appreciation, and nice ones too. Some games may appear to be F2P mobile games, but most are surprisingly fun and definitely better than many other Steam games. [url=https://www.warchild.org.uk/mosul-appeal]War Child really needs your support at this moment,[/url] so why not help innocent kids and get some nice games for doing so? [i]The 3-year-old Rahim from Mosul will be very grateful.[/i]