SpawnPoint - Where Game Begins

Gone with the Stereotype: Scarlett and the Spark of Life

Fans of LucasArts' classic Monkey Island franchise will be clamoring to get their hands on a new app by indie developer Launching Pad Games. It's called Scarlett and the Spark of Life, and it's the little adventure game that could change the way original gaming titles are designed for mobile users.

The first of four planned episodes featuring Princess Scarlett, the game opens with our protagonist in peril. Scarlett has been drugged and kidnapped by two henchmen only slightly more successful than the would-be robbers from Home Alone. But Scarlett is not your typical damsel in distress. Rather than wait for the proverbial Prince Charming to save her, this princess is determined to take destiny into her own hands. Armed only with a rapier wit and a crowbar named Chester, Scarlett escapes her bumbling kidnappers and hightails it for the nearby town of Monteil, where her adventure really begins.

In Monteil, Scarlett encounters a host of eccentric characters – including an enigmatic street sweeper, two squabbling sisters, and a painter of easy virtue – but can't seem to find the one thing she really needs: a ride home. The princess quickly learns that there are no horses to be had in Monteil, which is overrun by a mutant breed of vicious, stubborn nags known as pocalcos. With the kidnappers hot on her trail, Scarlett tracks down an abandoned mechanical horse head she affectionately dubs Gherkin. The horse head's creator, an engineer named Galadaemus, departed his workshop under mysterious circumstances, leaving Gherkin unfinished. (I suspect we'll be learning more about Galadaemus in future installments.) Your puzzle-solving skills are put to the test as Scarlett sets out to piece together a body for Gherkin – and helps the residents of Monteil along the way.

I was immediately struck by the game's disarmingly thoughtful, even intuitive, interface design – a rarity among mobile adventure games, considering how many are just PC titles ported to a different platform. Pressing the star button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen reveals the people and objects you can tap on to interact with, while another tap on the ground gets you moving. Tapping the inventory button on the left will reveal what you're carrying in your satchel. You can tap on an item to learn more about it, and drag items from your inventory to use on objects, people, or animals. The graphics and sound effects are equally simple, resulting in smooth gameplay with no lags or crashes. But where Scarlett really succeeded for me was with its quirky dialogue replete with sarcasm, swears, and some awfully bad bee jokes.

My only complaint is that this game is almost too short for the price – and as any girl can tell you, size matters. The game took me less than two hours to complete, and there's not a lot of replay value here. But with a cliffhanger ending and the promise of three more episodes still to come, I'll definitely be staying tuned for future installments – and keeping my tapped-out fingers crossed that those episodes are released as free updates. All in all, Scarlett is a twisted tale with a great sense of humor, and a must have for armchair detectives and puzzle lovers alike.

Scarlett and the Spark of Life is available now for download from the App Store at $2.99, and requires iOS 4.0 or later to play.