Broken Age: Act 1 is a new point-and-click adventure from Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions. If the name Tim Schafer sounds familiar it’s because he’s had a hand in some of the best adventure games of all time, including The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), Day of the Tentacle (1993), and Grim Fandango (1998). So when Double Fine started a Kickstarter campaign for Schafer’s new adventure, they had no trouble generating player interest and financial backing, with Broken Age as the result. But is the new game as good as the old games? Is that even possible? Keep reading to find out.
In Broken Age, you control a pair of teenagers. Shay is living on a babysitting spaceship, where the onboard computers feed him, bathe him, and generate special “missions” for him to go on, including rescuing sock puppets from an ice cream avalanche. Your goal for Shay is to help him break free of the spaceship, so he can go out and do real things. Meanwhile, Vella resides in more of an H.P. Lovecraft world, where she’s been selected as a sacrificial maiden to feed a creature called Mog Chothra. This designation is an “honor,” but Vella would rather not be eaten, and so your goal with her is to keep her alive.
Broken Age is a game developed and published by Double Fine Productions. It features to very distinct protagonists, nearly as opposite as day and night. Although their stories are mostly separate, they do intersect in various unique ways. It's a point-and-click adventure game with a heavy focus on plot, character development, exploration. Apr 28, 2015 Broken Age Act 2 picks up right where the previous act left off. After finally taking down the Mog Chothra that had come to take Vella, she now finds herself inside of the strange beast/machine.
Broken Age is played using a point-and-click interface. You left-click where you want your characters to move, and you left-click on the things you want them to interact with. After picking up something, you can access your inventory by pressing the I key or by clicking on the inventory tab at the bottom of the screen. There isn’t a key for showing hotspots, but then one isn’t really necessary. Broken Age doesn’t try to generate difficulty by hiding objects in obscure places. You can also switch between your characters at any time by clicking on an icon in the inventory display, but unlike some other games with multiple characters, Shay and Vella aren’t close enough to each other to influence each other’s puzzles, and so the only reason to switch between them is if you get stuck with one and want to try something different for a while.
The best part of Broken Age is its charm. The writing is excellent, with lots of subtle humor, and with Shay and Vella responding to situations as regular people would rather than how they’re supposed to. As an example, when you take control of Vella, it’s almost time for the “Maidens Feast” — but this isn’t a party to celebrate the sacrificial maidens; it’s a description of what’s going to happen when Mog Chothra shows up. All of the other maidens are excited about the feast and want to “win” the competition (and aren’t opposed to using “performance enhancers” to draw Mog Chothra to them), but Vella thinks fighting is better than appeasing, and her escape generates numerous funny conversations about stools, sick trees, and dead gods.
The graphics and sound also support the game’s charm. All of the locations and characters are hand-painted using 2D models, which is unusual these days, but which supports the game’s fantasy settings. For example, when you’re on Shay’s spaceship, all of the rooms and corridors are painted in bright colors, and all of the computers feature smiley faces. The hand-painted characters also work well, as there is a lot of detail in their faces, and their expressions help to give them personality. Meanwhile, the voice actors do a nice job of actually acting their lines rather than just reading the script — which is a good thing because there is a lot of dialogue in the game, and monotone performances would have sunk the production.
Unfortunately, the downside to Broken Age is the puzzles, which are a total cakewalk. Almost all of the puzzles are inventory-based, where you pick up objects and then find the right places to use them. But there are no red herring objects — and, really, there are barely any inventory objects in the game at all, maybe 20 in total, and so figuring out where to use them is easy. For example, at one point you meet a woodcutter, and later you find a piece of driftwood. Can you make the connection? That’s about as difficult as the puzzles get. The only time I got even halfway stuck on a puzzle (trying to crash a train), the game decided to give me a hint on my second try. Well, thanks. As a result, the first act only took me a little over four hours to complete, which is short even for half of an adventure.
Broken Age: Act 1 is an amusing game, but it’s not a great game, and it’s a little disappointing given its pedigree. It has all the charm and personality in the world, but the puzzles are so lukewarm and obvious that they drag down everything with them. With better puzzles, Act 1 could have been something special, but as it stands now, it’s roughly as good as numerous other adventures out there. Still, Act 1 is only half of the game. Act 2 will be released later this year as a free update, and maybe it will be a little more thought-provoking. It will also be interesting to see what happens when Shay’s and Vella’s storylines actually intersect.
Reviewed By: Steven Carter
Publisher: Double Fine Productions
Rating: 80%
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This review is based on a digital copy of Broken Age for the PC provided by Double Fine Productions.
Broken Age is a uniquely well-crafted classic adventure game that combines a compelling storyline and engaging gameplay with stunning graphics and hilarious dialogue. But, like most point-and-click adventures, it can get really frustrating at times. If you’re stuck on a level or just want to skip a certain part, you’ve landed on the right page. This Broken Age walkthrough guide details everything you need to know to get through tough levels and discover all the secret Easter Eggs. Our walkthrough covers both Broken Age Act 1 (Shay) and Broken Age Act 2 (Vella).
The game was designed for mobile devices so, if you have the option, get the iOS or the Android version. That said, the epic adventure is also available on Steam, PS4 and PS Vita.
Broken Age Part 1 – Shay
Tired of his mundane life and overprotective robot-parents, Shay decides to set out on an adventure. His story is divided into three parts, and our Broken Age walkthrough of act 1 (Shay) will take you through all three.
1. You start with The Daily Grind, which is full of repetitive, boring tasks like eating through an ice cream avalanche, looking for aliens or riding a train through a talking mountain. Everything changes after Shaw meets a talking wolf during an emergency train mission.
Usually, he screamed at the mountain to lower the bridge and let the train through. But one day, he yelled twice on the way down and the mountain raised the bridge. He fell down into the abyss, only to land on a surprisingly soft surface. And that’s where he met Alex, the talking wolf.
2. After you finish those chores and meet Alex, you’ll need to get Shay through the second part, aptly named Breaking Out. After planning his escape, Shay commandeers the ship, disables the shields and flies to the Talon Nebula on a quest to save space creatures. He saves a lot of creatures before being attacked by a giant monster, crashing and abruptly concluding the second part of his story.
3. Shay’s third and final solo level takes place near the crash site. As its name suggests, to get through Fixing the Ship you must piece together debris to rebuild your spaceship. After getting a list of supplies, Shay must figure out where to find each item and how to get them.
What You Need
Generally, there’s no specific order for completing a level’s objectives. But this Broken Age walkthrough follows the fastest, most efficient path to victory. All the supplies Shay needs are listed below, along with instructions on how to find the most elusive ones.
- Spoon
- Grabbin’ Gary
- Screwdriver
- Deflated raft – The raft is in the air vent located next to your bed. Use your screwdriver to pry it open.
- Oxygen tank
- Inflatable man
- Talon Nebula Star Chart
- Danger System 5 Star Chart
- Prima Doom Space Chart
- Omicron Inhibitor
- Knife
- Whipped Cream Gun
- Crochet hook
- Hazard Suit
- Superconductive Gyroscopic Hypercan
- Hypergravity Thrusters – Talk to Car’l, the local knot specialist, until she offers to draw you a knot diagram. Hand her a pencil, take the diagram and return to F’ther and his brother. Use the diagram to help them unravel a knot to earn the Hypergravity Thrusters.
- Ship Sealant – Find a cloud with a large peach tree on it and enter the tunnel inside the tree. Pick up a peach and talk to Hunter until he shares some fruit tapper with you. Find your way to Jessie’s eggs. Pour Hunter’s fruit tapper on them to hatch them instantly. In order to make Ship Sealant, bring the eggshells and your peach back to Shaw’s father. Balance the pH of his solution to 7.0, using your spoon to measure it.
- Radiation Suit
- Electronics Genius – The genius is Shay’s broken robot Hexipal.
Easter Eggs
Retro Mode
Smashing pumpkins adore 320 rarest. If you feel any nostalgia toward early PC point-and-click puzzle games, you’ll definitely appreciate the 8-bit option. Here’s a quick Retro Mode Broken Age walkthrough:
Step 1: In the Main Menu, press ‘Options’ and adjust the screen resolution to exactly 640 x 480.
Step 2: Press ‘Key Remapping’ in the Options menu. A new button – depicting Shay and Vella – should appear in the lower right corner of the screen.
Step 3: During gameplay, use the button to switch Retro Mode on or off. You can enjoy the cutscenes in HD and play.
Smelling Salts
In certain levels, Shaw can leave the ship, drifting away into outer space. If you manage to pull that off, the ship will pull him back in and use Smelling Salts to wake him up. The creators of Broken Age actually borrowed this Easter Egg from Psychonauts – their first successful classic-style mobile game.
Bonuses
There are dozens of different ways to complete each level of this highly interactive adventure game. Each puzzle can take hours to solve but, if you find all the right bonuses, a whole level can be completed in just minutes. Here are the shortcuts to Shaw’s most difficult missions.
Getting a Mold of the Superconductive Gyroscopic Hypercan
Get a snake in one of the giant snake horns around town. Next, take the snake to Marshall Dune, place it on his neck and it’ll squeeze him until he coughs up a tuner. Pick up the tuner and show Marshall the schematic you got from Alex, so he could make you a mold of it from sand.
Last but not least, put the sand mold under the talking tree, and show Vella’s picture to it. The tree will vomit on the mold, hardening it with tree sap.
Broken Age Act 1 Part 2 Stampy
Making a Large Radiation Suit
Talk to Brommel about money until he gives you a coin. Use it to buy a cupcake from Vella’s sister and take it to Meriloft. Near the central clouds, you’ll find Walt’r. Offer him the cupcake; he’ll lick the frosting and walk away. Bring the cupcake to Brommel, and ask him for some frosting.
In addition to refreshing the pastry, he’ll also toss you his empty cane. After you make your way back to the peach tree in the clouds, show the cane to Dead-Eye Dawn, and enjoy a cutscene. Last but not least, take the dead-eye robe to Twyla, who will use it to make a radiation suit.
Broken Age Part 2 – Vella
Vella’s story begins with human sacrifice, so it’s probably safe to say her part is more intense. Compared to Shay, she faces more difficult challenges, a wider range of puzzles and even an extra level. Here’s a breakdown of the Broken Age Act 2 walkthrough:
1. During the first level, titled Sugar Bunting, Vella’s goal is simple – avoid being eaten alive. She’ll need to stay alive long enough to plan an escape and disappear before someone sees her. After cutting herself loose, she flies away on top of a giant blue bird.
2. Vella arrives in Meriloft, the town in the clouds, with nothing but a knife, and no way of getting down to Shellmound. Yet, just a day later, Vella leaves with a pair of new shoes and three golden eggs. Before departing, she helps the blue bird who flew her to Meriloft find her missing egg.
3. She climbs down from the clouds, lands in the town of Shellmound and decides to kill Mod Chothra, the monster everyone was scared of. Soon after, she learns of a space explorer who crashed nearby many years ago, and convinces him to help her. Vella plots her revenge and, with the help of the stranded space traveler, builds a powerful laser gun.
Next time Mod Chothra comes around, she poses as a sacrifice. Knowing that she only has one shot at this, Vella waits for the monster to open his mouth and fires her laser into it until the beast collapses.
4.Bossa Nostra reveals a truly surprising plot twist and no Broken Age walkthrough should spoil it for you. All you need to keep in mind about this level is Shaw’s family photo, which is the only way to finish Shaw’s storyline and win the game.
What You Need
Vella doesn’t use as many materials as Shaw, but locating them is just as important to her. If you’re struggling to find a certain item, this Broken Age walkthrough glossary can be a lifesaver.
- Cupcake
- Towel
- Knife – Grab the cupcake with the towel and offer to split it with grandpa. He’ll use a knife to slice it in half, and leave the knife on the towel, allowing you to snag it.
- Cloud shoes
- Jessie’s Egg – Free Gus from under the peach tree by shaking a branch and jumping through the hole in the cloud. Gus will be on your right. After you untangle him and get him out of there, you’ll see Jessie’s Egg.
- Gold Eggs
- Axe
- Laser Gun – The guards who gave you a teargas shooter won’t let you in Dead-Eye God’s cave unless you solve their riddle. If you still have a peach from Meriloft, give it to them and move along. Look around the room until you find something like a toy gun made of glass. It’ll break when you pick it up, but take it back to Curtis’s place. Walk into the room where you found the axe, and look around for a glass pane. Replace the broken glass on Dead-Eye God’s gun to turn it into a deadly laser.
Easter Eggs
Just like with most other point-and-click games, there’s no need for a separate Broken Age walkthrough to cover hidden parts of the game. Aside from the Retro Mode and Shaw’s “Smelling Salts” Easter egg, there’s just one other.
When Vella exits Curtis’s house for the first time, makes a right turn and gets ambushed by a snake, do not do anything. Within a few seconds, the snake gets tired and passes out. After a short scene, you will find a snake trophy in Vella’s inventory.
Bonuses
While there are no bonus levels in this timeline, there are a couple of bonus items. Use the below Broken Age walkthrough to find them and make Vella’s toughest missions a whole lot easier.
Holy Tear Gas Shooter
Broken Age 1 2 Years
Find either the Marshal or the talking tree and take a look around. You should see two people standing on a staircase somewhere nearby. Find them, come upstairs and greet the guards. Be courteous, ask if you can get them anything; once they decline your offer, ask if they need any more holy tear gas. One of them will hand over his Holy Tear Gas Shooter immediately.
Painting
After a not-so-smooth landing in Shellmound, you end up in Curtis’s living room. Talk to him about the art on his wall until he insists that you can have it. Later, when you find the sleeping Dead-Eye God, you can show him the painting to wake him up.
Final Advice
Broken Age 1 2 Full
Whether you’re a fan or not, we can all agree that this game is truly unique. It’s a classic-style adventure, except for the sophisticated storyline and mind-blowing plot twists. Therefore, it only makes sense to enjoy the story as much as the game itself. Fortunately, the plot is somewhat independent of gameplay, so you can take advantage of this spoiler-free Broken Age walkthrough at any stage of the game during Broken Age act 1 (Shay), or Broken Age act 2 (Vella).
Broken Age 1 2 Dw Documentary
If you’re a big fan of point and click adventure games, then check out our Machinarium review. Do you know any tips or tricks we missed? If so, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments.