At PAX Australia, when we go and play demos of the games on the show floor, they usually require one person. The Incredible Journey of You and I, however, required you to have two people to play the demo. And because no one from TechGeek was around at the time, I asked a random stranger to help out.
Now, it should be pointed out that the game does have a single player mode. However, I think I wouldn’t have gotten a better appreciation of the game if I didn’t get a stranger to be my temporary partner.
The Incredible Journey of You and I come from Canberra-based husband-and-wife studio Shy Kids Clubs, and the game requires a lot of co-operation and co-ordination between you and your partner. Why? Because one person moves the ship, while the other shoots at enemy monsters. And it is very important that you communicate or on the same page.
Now, it wouldn’t be fun if one person did all the flying and one person did all the shooting. And that is why the game has two coloured zones. If you fly into an area that has a pinkish colour, then person controlling pink moves the ship, while the person controlling blue shoots. If you fly into an area that has a blueish tint, then the opposite occurs.
And to make it even more difficult, you can only destroy enemies and targets that have the same colour.
Once you wrap your head around the interesting gameplay mechanic, it’s actually pretty fun to play. The game is not too challenging, but it may take another try or two to complete a level if you and your partner aren’t in sync.
On the other elements of the game, The Incredible Journey of You and I is very vibrant and very cutesy (if that is a word), with the art style is very reminiscent of the old-school Saturday morning cartoons that aired in the 90s. For some reason, I immediately thought of the Powerpuff Girls when looking at the art.
While the game is more suited for two players, based on their press kit, Shy Kids Club will not implement online co-op. While you can co-ordinate via the internet and whatever VoIP system you want to use, I think it’s a smart decision on their part. Otherwise, I think you would lose what makes The Incredible Journey of You and I great.
According to the developers, the game should be out by late next year. Hopefully, we’ll get to see them again at PAX next year then.