Games on Location: Episode 2 - Anarchy in the Arctic

 It's been a hot minute since we wrote our last Games on Location article (we took Fungi out into the woods), but today we have an extra special edition. You may remember that last year we previewed the fantastic Arctic Anarchy and interviewed its creators Ricky Baker and Lydia Vadgama. Well, during this interview I suggested that they take a copy of their game with them to play while in the arctic circle to do a special Games on Location for us. At the end of June 2025, Ricky and Lydia voyaged to Iceland's capital Reykjavik and further north to Grundarfjörður, Ísafjörður and Akureyri. They then continued on to Alesund in Norway.

The rest of the article is provided to us by Ricky who made some notes on their experiences travelling north with a copy of Arctic Anarchy in their possession.

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Arctic Anarchy on location in Iceland and Norway

The route of our journey meant that we crossed the Arctic Circle when going around Iceland in a North easterly direction, and again when heading towards Norway going South easterly. Naturally it was only fitting that we brought our creation with us. Whilst we did this in the comfort of a cruise ship, our journey did in some ways help us scope out what we might encounter when we embark on our Arctic Quest voyage in Svalbard and give us inspiration for the possibility of an expansion to our game.

No nighttime and folklore inspire possibilities of expansions

Between May and July is known to those in Iceland and Norway as "Period of Midnight Sun", during which the sun does not truly set, but rather sits on the horizon only to rise again after a few short hours. At 6pm the position of the sun makes it seem like midday, and midnight seems like early evening time.

Icelandic and Norwegian folklore is filled with stories of trolls. Much of the landscape tell the stories of these trolls, including "Naustahvilft" (The Troll Seat) located in Ísafjörður.

Thinking about an expansion for Arctic Anarchy, we knew that we would want to introduce and additional dimension to game play for the more experienced board gamers to enjoy. The period of midnight sun and the legends of the Trolls have inspired the idea of adding a "Trolls" card to the events deck. When drawn, the sight of the trolls cause the animals on the iceberg to go into hiding. This manifests itself in the game play as the players having to turn over the animal cards on the iceberg so that the faces are hidden. Any future cards drawn to replace those taken from the iceberg must also be placed face down. As a result, players will be adding animals to their raft blind, until the next event or another troll card is played, (we are yet to decide how the troll card will be cancelled).

Rainbows in Rekjavik and Wildlife icons

Animal cards within Arctic Anarchy are based on native mammal species within the region of Svalbard. Currently the game comprises of Polar Bears (the symbol of Arctic Quest 26), Arctic Foxes, Reindeer, Arctic Hares, Seals, and Whales.

We were lucky enough to see two of these animals in their natural habitat, having spotted a harbour seal off the beaches in Grundarfjörður and a Whale fin whilst at sea.

Another Icelandic icon is the Puffin, with many tourist excursions available to see these in the wild. If that doesn't float your boat, you can visit "Rainbow Street" in Rekjavik, where the cobbles have been painted in stripes of rainbow colour. The street has been decorated in this way as a sign of joy and support for diversity. The initiative is organised by the city of Rekjavik in cooperation with Rekjavik Pride. The street has become an attraction for many visiting the city, and of course there are many shops along the way filled with all manner of puffin themed souvenirs. The puffin, with its colourful beak, seems right at home in this part of the city, and would be a welcomed addition as a new animal type in the Arctic Anarchy game.

For us as creators, the addition of a rainbow puffin card to our game would symbolise the inclusiveness that scouting strives to provide for all its members. It would also reflect our own personal morals and desire for Arctic Anarchy to be a game that can be played by all.

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Hand Limit loves Arctic Anarchy and strongly recommend checking it out  wherever and whenever you can. Get in touch with Ricky and Lydia via the Arctic Quest 26 website to pick up a copy or head over to the Gilwell Reunion 2025, Gilwell Park Campsite, London from 29th to 31st August. This is a festival for adults scouting volunteers, where the wider Arctic Quest team will be promoting and raising funds for their expedition.

Stay tuned for more updates on this fantastic game and the journey of the Arctic Quest 26 team.

Preview: Last Week of Summer - Make It Rad

 

We all remember the long Summers of our youth. Days that stretch endlessly away from us, so much promise and possibility. Plans to see friends, to hang out, spend time belonging to no one but yourself. But there's always tomorrow to be active, today why not spend some more time in front of the TV?

Then all of a sudden you look at the date and realise that you only have one week left before real life comes screaming back into focus. Perhaps you're moving on to University or College, perhaps you will be getting into the world of work. No matter what's waiting for you, you are suddenly faced with only a week left before responsibility catches up with you.

What is there to do other than make sure that last week of Summer is as memorable and awesome as possible? It's time to get off the sofa and make those memories. 

That is the premise of Last Week of Summer from Allies or Enemies. It's the summer of 1986, you just graduated high school and you have one more week of summer before it's time to head off into the real world.

We came across Last Week of Summer at Canterbury Gaming Convention and we were pulled in by the absolutely gorgeous 80s vaporwave aesthetic. After playing it on Day 2 we all agreed that it was by far the standout game of the whole convention. The game play is smooth and well thought out, offering an engaging and smooth experience that neatly marries the mechanics and the theme. And I can't stress this enough, it is such a visually appealing game that caught the eye of everyone passing by the table.

Last Week of Summer combines worker placement with modular locations that represent different attractions in your town, from the arcade, to the skatepark, to the video rental store. Each location has it's own mechanic as well making the game feel varied and entertaining. The skatepark, for example, involves collecting tetrominoes and compiling them to learn tricks, the fast food joint is a push-your-luck mechanic where you try to eat the most food you can, the arcade is a dice-rolling mini game where you try to complete rows of identical dice. Successfully completing these mini-games awards cassette tokens which act as victory points at the end of the game.

Combining worker placement with so many other mechanics was a big swing from the designer, Shawn Hoult, as handled poorly it could easily have been a messy experience, but the game absolutely hits a home run. Getting a chance to play each mini-game is a real draw to encourage players to spend as much time as possible at each location, rather than just camping out at one.

There's one catch to your plans to having the most amazing last week of summer, and that's money. In order to make the most of your week you're going to need cash, and in order to get that cash you need to take on shifts at the aforementioned businesses. When working shifts you don't get to participate in the mini-games but there are rewards beyond money. If you have a slow shift (if no other players choose to attend the business) you get bonuses towards earning cassettes, such as renting a free video from the video rental, or taking a small tetromino from the skatepark as you practice your skateboard tricks. 

The game takes place over 7 rounds, representing a full week, and each player plans out their days (morning, afternoon, evening) by playing action cards in front of them at the start of each round. Each period of the day is then resolved in the order that the locations are placed around the central board. Additionally, there are cool kids roaming town that score you bonuses if you attend businesses at the same time as them.

At the end of each day is a party and those who had the most impressive day get an invite, scoring them extra cassette tapes.

Overall we were incredibly impressed with the quality and quantity of game play that Last Week of Summer provides, and we are very excited for the launch of its Kickstarter campaign on 19th August.

Keep an eye on our Instagram for an upcoming reel that really shows what a beautiful game this is and give Allies or Enemies a follow to keep up to date on its development. While you're waiting for the game to come out, why not give this playlist of 80s bangers a listen on Spotify, put together by Allies or Enemies to complement their incredible game.

Canterbury Gaming Convention - Day 2

 

Day 2 of Canterbury Gaming Convention was just as fun-packed as the first. We got to play so many awesome games and one of us even got some light strangulation from Agent 47 (check out our Instagram to find out who).

After such an eventful weekend, it's safe to say we at Hand Limit are suffering from the post-convention blue, but we're already looking forward to next year. Plus details will be announced soon but Hand Limit will be hosting our own event this coming October! Keep an eye on our socials, the blog, and our next zine issue for more details as they become available.

So what did we get up to on the final day of the convention? Well see our roundup below of the games we played!

Last Week of Summer, Shawn Holt - Allies or Enemies

Last Week of Summer was by far the standout game of the whole convention for us. So much so that I will be writing a separate full preview of it on the blog so for now you'll have to make the most of checking out their Kickstarter page, which is due to go live on 19th August.

Ages of War: Battle for the Bronze Age, Mike James - Thiad Games Ltd.

Ages of War was part of the prize bundle Hand Limit won at the Friday night Gaming Quiz so we absolutely had to check it our at the convention and we are so glad that we did.

Two players take on the roles of generals of Bronze Age armies going head to head in a game reminiscent of Summoner Wars and the Civilisation series of video games. The gameplay is incredibly smooth with minimal downtime and the rules are much quicker to learn than you would expect from an asymmetric skirmish game. We were lucky enough to be taught how to play by the game's creator, Mike James.

The units on the board are represented by cards that double as dry-wipe boards for tracking damage, which is a fun and effective design decision. On each players turn they have three actions to move units, attack, and activate the special power that comes with the faction they are playing as. 

The game very effectively provides the feeling of managing an army rather than just a mass of individual units. One of the ways it achieves this is through a mechanic that allows adjacent units to be moved or attack together as one. This effectively creates the feeling of managing a large army on the battle field and helps keep up the pace of the gameplay. 

Mike has really put the work in on making the game feel as though there is a depth to the skill required while keeping the game complexity as low as possible. Additionally, there is a great sense of rubber banding, in that as armies reduce in size it becomes easier to move them around the board. This means that the tables can easily turn multiple times throughout the game, and players always feel they have a chance to come out on top.

As a player that perpetually plays games in a way that I describe as "vibes over strategy" this is a perfect skirmish game. While there is definitely scope to implement long-game strategies, there is a lot to be said for keeping flexible and responding to the ebb and flow of the battle as needed.

Ages of War also gives a lot of flexibility as to the scale of the battle through an adjustable play space, marked out with a grid of cards, and the option to play with more or fewer units depending on what type of game the players want to play.

This game was definitely a highlight for us and we have already played the copy we won and had just as much fun. I think there is a good level of replayability with this and it will become a firm favourite in the group.

Slide, Claude Clement - Gigamic

The aim of Slide is to be the player with the lowest score at the end of the game - you do this by revealing one card at a time, swapping with other players and sliding cards back into your play area (like those picture puzzles you get in party bags as a child!) aiming to put the same numbers next to each other in order to cancel each other out (see the two pink five cards in the image). This is a quick game and probably great if you have good spatial problem solving skills!

Solstis, Bruno Cathala & Corentin Lebrat - Lumberjacks Studio

In Solstis you take it in turns to place tiles to fill a board in front of you, creating paths up a mountain and finding spirits along the way, you score points with your largest connected area of tiles, and through some of the bonuses given by spirits, as well as by finishing paths from the base of the mountain to lit torches at the top. While the card placement was unclear, and some of the rules were not clearly explained, it was a fun and quick game to play. The art style is very pleasing and the spirits are incredibly cute.

Trickerion: Legends of Illusion, Richard Amann & Victor Peter - Mindclash Games

Trickerion by Mindclash Games is an in-depth worker placement game that we were drawn to following the fun we had playing another Mindclash title, Septima, on Day 1 of the convention.

Players play as Magicians looking to raise their own fame on stage by creating and performing the most impressive magic tricks. It was compared to The Prestige by the team demo-ing the game, but sadly this comparison was lost on me as I've never read the book nor seen the film. I understand the premise though and the game provides a very crunchy experience for fans of worker placement mechanics.

Sadly I was not won over by the game, which at times felt cumbersome and long-winded. The ultimate goal was to get on stage to perform tricks, but in order to do that you must first prepare the trick backstage, but in order to do that you must first develop the trick in your workshop, but before you can do that you must learn the trick in the downtown area of the board and acquire the necessary resources from the market. And in order to do any of these things you must have been able to place your workers in the best possible locations in any of the areas. While some of the Hand Limit collective were really warming to the experience by the end of our demonstration, I felt that the game was too far removed from the pizzazz of stage magic. 

Fans of meatier worker placement games would probably get on very well with this but I found that I was left wanting more from the experience. Something with a bit of Wow to tie the mechanics into the theme. It was high strategy and low luck, which in the past has been a turn off for me. 

As with Septima (our favourite game on day 1), Trickerion is heavily stylised and has a fun, almost steam-punk aesthetic, which definitely attracted us to the game.

All in all, this game disappointed me but it clearly showed that a lot of thought has gone into its creation and I have no doubt that there are players out there who would love it for what it is.

Flamecraft: Duals, Manny Vega - Cardboard Alchemy

We are big fans of Flamecraft by Manny Vega so jumped at the opportunity to play Flamecraft: Duals, which has just ended its run of late pledges on Kickstarter.

Players take turns in drawing and placing hexagonal dragon tiles (the dragons are all familiar faces from the main game) and activating their special abilities. The aim of the game is to win the most victory points by laying tiles in the configurations specified on the town cards.

This is an incredibly simple game that is very pleasing to play. The tiles are wonderfully tactile and generally speaking the whole game speaks to a high production value. We are very much looking forward to picking this up from our FLGS on general release.

Three Kobolds in a Trench Coat, James Cooper & Harriet Rogers - FanCrafted Ltd.

With a concept as wonderful as Three Kobolds in a Trench Coat we would have never forgiven ourselves if we hadn't jumped on the opportunity to play this charming little bluffing game. 

Each player has a collection of 3 kobolds that are kept hidden from other players and must take it in turns to reveal event cards and fulfill the requirements on each card. These will sometimes be bribes paid in coin to city guards to keep your identity under wraps, or sometimes minor quests that require a kobold with sufficient skills to complete. The skills follow the same rough template as your average D&D character (strength, dexterity, wisdom, etc). The twist? You don't have to reveal the kobold that you're putting forward for the meeting, so you are well within your right to bluff when it comes to their abilities. It's up to the other players whether they believe you have what it takes, or to call you out. 

Failing these event cards usually results in losing a kobold and the ultimate goal of the game is to knock out all other players through them losing their kobolds.

While the overall production value was fairly standard, this was a fun little game and provided a lot of material for story-telling around the table while playing. If you're looking for something silly to play with friends between heavier titles, this is a good game to go with.

Final Roundup

With that Canterbury Gaming Convention drew to a close. We had an absolutely incredible time and had great fun connecting with people over our shared love of games. We also came away with quite a haul of games that we can't wait to get to the table. Including, would you believe it, a copy of Tribes of the Wind. I felt like it needed a second chance after our failed attempt to learn it on Day 1. It looks like a beautiful game with some wonderful artwork by Vincent Dutrait that definitely deserves a proper go.

Overall we played some really great games and although we didn't gel with some of them, they were all objectively good games. As with all our recommendations, your mileage may vary!

We can't wait for CGC next year and offer our hugest thanks to Darius Twyman for pulling it all together. We love the gaming community and events like this are such a wholesome environment where everyone can have such a joyous time.

If you didn't manage to attend, keep an eye on the Canterbury Gaming Convention website for news on next year's event.

Canterbury Gaming Convention - Day 1

 

The first proper day of Canterbury Gaming Convention got off to an incredible start with crowds of people turning up at opening time to get the first pick of games demonstrations. The sizable hall was filled with stalls, demonstrations, and space to play games, and there was an excited buzz from all attendees. 

Bad Trevor, Mark Hurdle - Fistbump Games Ltd.

We had a busy first day, starting with a game of Bad Trevor by Mark Hurdle, a game based on comic-book villains and heroes battling it out. Players aim to be the first to deplete their hand of cards by handing them off to players, or in the case of civilians, pairing them up and discarding them. Each turn, players present the next player with a choice of 3 face-down "attack" cards. The receiving player chooses one to keep and resolves the action stated on the card. 

Hero cards will generally be good, villain cards will generally bad, and civilian cards will clog up a players hand until they can be discarded. Of course, there is also the Bad Trevor card to contend with. Bad Trevor is a villain so foul that he is even shunned by the other villains. The only way to remove Bad Trevor from your hand is to pass it on to another player. When presenting your attack cards you can use any amount of psychological trickery to get the receiving player to take the card you want them to take, which allows for a lot of fun, underhanded tactics.

This was a great game to start the day with, and taught very well by Mark Hurdle himself. It was quick to learn, quick to play, and acted as a perfect warm up to some of the heavier titles we played. Overall it was good, silly fun and we look forward to an opportunity to play it again.

Stomp The Plank, Florian Sirieix & Benoit Turpin - Ravensburger

This was a very simple game with a straightforward push-your-luck mechanic that is accessible to younger players. Each player has an elephant that starts at the sensible end of a plank (cleverly, the box is inverted to use as the board), and takes it in turns to flip cards from a deck until they either decide to stick or they pull two cards with matching symbols. In the case of the former, they force other players to place wooden weights on the end of their planks, which are secured to the board using magnets. This adds an element of dexterity to the process as being too heavy handed placing these weights will cause the plank to flip off the ship and the elephant tumble into the briny sea. If a player should pull 2 cards with matching symbols they must end their turn and move their elephant one space along the plank, making it more likely that the plank will fall.

There really isn't much more to the game, it was simple, quick to learn, and very accessible while the push-your-luck mechanic was engaging for older players as well. It's not breaking any boundaries but we are writing this not long after playing Flip 7 for the first time, which has set a standard for simplicity in push-your-luck games such as this, so perhaps it doesn't compare well.

Faraway, Johannes Goupy & Corentin Lebrat - Catch Up Games

The third game we played was Faraway, one that I've had my eye on for a while thanks to the eye-catching art style. In Faraway, players place and draw cards to create a tableau representing your travels around the strange and wonderful world in which it is set. The catch with this game, however, is cards are scored in reverse to how they are laid, so cards placed at the beginning of the game act as commitments to meet their scoring requirements before the final tile is laid. 

I don't know if it was the way in which the game was taught but we spent our first game of this in deep confusion about how to effectively choose cards during the drafting phase. At times this lack of clarity, and lack of understanding of the various symbols and scoring requirements was downright frustrating. This frustration definitely coloured our first impression of the game and perhaps with consecutive plays we would look more favourable on it. As with some games though, I don't know if there was enough entertainment to draw me back.

That all being said, the game has some lovely artwork and the twist of scoring cards in reverse was an interesting mechanic.

Tribes of the Wind, Joachim Thome - La Boite de Jeu

This game is more of an honourable mention than an honest review as we never got past the first turn before throwing in the towel. It is a gorgeous looking game with a theme of post-apocalyptic environmentalism that really appealed to me. Sadly we pulled this out at a point in the afternoon where the heat was getting to us and despite our best intentions I don't feel this is a game that can be learned while playing. Given half an hour to just sit somewhere quiet and read through the rules I think I would be able to make a good job of teaching it to others, but with so many moving parts and rules it was just a non-starter. Perhaps we'll try again soon.

Septima, Barbara Benat & Villo Farkas - Mindclash Games

Septima, for me, was the standout game of the day. Aside from anything it's an absolutely gorgeous game with a colour palette and art style that is to die for. Not to mention the adorable meeples representing the witches and witch hunters.

In Septima, players take the role of witches looking to aid their community by gathering ingredients and making potions that will cure the ills of the local townsfolk, and saving accused witches from trial by angry mob. All this must be done without drawing too much attention to yourself, however, lest you attract the unwanted attention of the witch hunters that roam the board threatening to take witches from your coven and put them on trial, or straight out steal victory points from you.

We were lucky to have this game taught to us by a representative of Mindclash Games, which saved us a lot of work. This is a decidedly meaty experience with a lot of rules and mechanics to keep track of. It never felt overwhelming though, which some games manage with far shorter rule books. There is a nice blend of pick-up-and-deliver and bag building (this comes into play when witches are put on trial at the end of each season), which makes the game feel like a unique experience.

Septima is a long game that could easily see the back of the two hour mark with 4 players playing for the first time. But as long games go, the turns are cleverly paced to leave the minimum of downtime. 

There is also the promise of a solo-mode, which is always a draw for me (I'll always get my money's worth if I don't have to wait to get a group together to play a game).

Tomorrow - Day 2

We're really excited to go back for the second day and have already marked out a couple of two-player games that we want to give some attention to. The first, the name of which escapes me, gets players to live out their perfect summer before going away to University. The art style of this was very enticing. Secondly, we want to spend some time at the Yay Games stand, who produce Frankenstein's Bodies, Dark Harvest, The Legacy of Frankenstein (the game so nice they named it thrice), a Hand Limit favourite.

We also managed to hand out all but half a dozen of our summer zines, so we're hoping the lucky recipients are enjoying them. 

Check out our Instagram for more content as it happens.

Canterbury Gaming Convention - The Gaming Quiz

 

Well, it's certainly been an eventful start to the Canterbury Gaming Convention. It all kicked off this evening with a quiz hosted by Fantazma Gaming and That Baldy Gamer, and sponsored by Ralbru Games, and what a riotous time it was!

The quiz went on for 6 rounds that included guessing the video game music, e-sports, the history of gaming, and even a touchy-feely round. The variety of different formats was incredibly fun and the hosting was very entertaining. There was also a fantastic turn-out with over 16 different teams competing to win a huge array of prizes at the end.

The evening also had a fun twist, with each team requiring to nominate one person per round to go into an adjacent space and play a game of the charmingly named, ButtChess. This provided a unique tactical aspect to the evening as each team needed to nominate the person who would be of least help to the quiz round, lest they hinder their chances of getting the questions right.

It was our first time playing ButtChess and we were very taken with the simplicity of its draughts-esque gameplay. Players take it in turns to move their tokens across the board in an attempt to either get 3 tokens to the opposite side, or remove 4 of their opponent's pieces by jumping over them, not unlike in the game checkers.

Hand Limit was well represented with 6 of it's contingency and a varied background in table top gaming and video gaming knowledge. We played under the name Lizards of the Toast, which came from the sleep deprived brain of our most recent dad, Tom, but made us all chuckle.

And from that slightly stupid name we went into the evening not expecting to place in any position at all, but reader, we only went and bloody won! To our surprise we placed just 1 point ahead of second place and took home an amazing stash of new games for the Hand Limit library. But most importantly of all, we got badges marking us out as winners of the Canterbury Gaming Convention Quiz. 

I cannot understate the bragging rights that these badges will give us, so if you see us around the convention this weekend and want us to regale you with tales of our grand victory, be sure to stop us to say hello. And while you're at it, grab a copy of our summer zine!

If you've not got tickets to Canterbury Gaming Convention yet, you can pick them up here.

See you tomorrow for more updates!

Canterbury Gaming Convention - Session Zero

Canterbury Gaming Convention is finally here and Hand Limit got to head over the the University of Kent Sports Arena this afternoon to take a look at the set up. 

Already many stalls are set up and ready for the weekend, we even made a couple of sneaky purchases and played a couple of games. Check out our Instagram for some insight into the games that we played.

The hall is looking fantastic and it's set to be a terrific event with lots of exhibitors and games to play. Darius of Dice & Destiny, our FLGS, and chief organiser of Canterbury Gaming Convention, was in his element, confidently overseeing the set up. New exhibitors were arriving the whole time and there was a buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air.

Hand Limit will be in attendance for the whole weekend, bringing you updates on the various offerings of the convention. If you haven't bought your tickets yet, it's not to late to pick them up here.

The event will kick off in earnest tonight with the Quiz Night, hosted by Fantazma Gaming and That Baldy Gamer, and sponsored by Ralbru Games. The Hand Limit collective has already put together a team, not with the hope of winning, but of losing valiantly.

Expect further updates throughout the weekend on the blog and on our Instagram account.

If you are planning to be there, look out for us in our Hand Limit t-shirts and grab yourself a copy of the Summer Zine while they last!

We cannot wait to get our grubby little hands on as many games as possible!

Jinn's Cosy Video Game Corner – Maiden Voyage with Wind Waker

    I might be starting off my first segment of Cosy Corner with not your typical cosy game feature, but it's certainly one that I hold a lot of precious summertime memories for and it seems like a fair few people experience the same feeling given the amount who responded in excitement to my pitch for this feature.    

     Image source: Nintendo GameCube; The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

    The Legend of Zelda (LoZ) Wind Waker built the foundations in my mind of what I would consider as my perfect summer video game, providing an escape to an exciting, vibrant, and whimsical world that seems to have embedded itself into my memories with picture perfect clarity.

Playing as Link, you start on a remote tropical island with a familial community (even just that brings warmth as juxtaposition from other LoZ games by providing a sense of identity and family) and are brought into the legends by way of tradition and family honour - quite different from being abruptly awoken by a high-pitched ball of light and told that you're adopted (essentially) and then immediately responsible to go save the world… That kind of feels heavy, whereas Wind Waker tackles the challenges of being a hero in a way that feels nurturing and positive, especially on young impressionable minds.

Image source: Nintendo GameCube Press Kit

    Of course, with it being a LoZ game there is combat and monsters, but I found that combat was relatively easy and uncommon outside of temples and fortresses so I spent a lot of the game running around cute tropical islands and (here comes the actual reason for this feature) sailing around beautiful blue seas and skies, treasure hunting and controlling the wind through various harmonious songs with the aid from a talking lion boat; kind of like an adventurous, puzzle-solving Animal Crossing, which given I played both on the GameCube around the same time, may have shaped my gaming preferences to be what they are now.

The cartoony animation on this game captures an essence of idyllic, simple island living, and I find myself peacefully reminiscing about the wind breeze lines, soaring seagulls, and lapping sea waves. I recall the release of Wind Waker caused a lot of stir amongst LoZ fans, some feeling that the style played too much into “childish” animation but in hindsight it was a clever decision by Nintendo to appeal to younger audiences and introduce them into the LoZ series, leading into the next generation of handheld consoles for sequels Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks on DS. 

        Image Source: IGDB Wind Waker HD Press Kit

    What may have seemed like an “uncool” direction taken by Nintendo turned into an evolution of style that has kept The Legend of Zelda series unique and easily identifiable for years to come, and personally, I have really enjoyed seeing the series evolve aesthetically over time, with each game title bringing a fresh variation to the design.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the darker and classic LoZ games like Ocarina of Time (OoT) and Majora’s Mask, with my first impressions of LoZ born from watching my older brothers play both titles, and myself playing Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages on Gameboy however, my initial attempt at OoT  left 7 year-old me traumatised over the Shadow Temple (those hands still freak me out) until my re-attempt a few years later, played in succession with Twilight Princess. 

Image source: Nintendo GameCube; The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

    Wind Waker gave me a cheerful and happy introduction to solo main title gaming, and blossomed my confidence in fighting monsters and big boss battles. The game focuses more on providing entertainment through enjoyable puzzles and hidden world interactions, akin to Majora’s Mask enigmatic play style but with a lot less creepy and world impending doom vibes. 

All in all, Wind Waker remains a unique blend of cosy puzzle gaming with a little bit of challenge to keep things interesting and a whole world of story that can envelope and embolden players into progressing through temples and dungeons. Plus, I can’t get over the experience of the Tingle Tuner, which essentially turned a Gameboy Advance into a companion device to help guide, locate and use special items (Tingle bombs, heck yeah), allowing for a little co-op experience, which could be a game pitch in itself to Nintendo for future titles?? If someone could put me in touch, that’d be great, hah.

Now to dust off the old GameCube and fire up that tiny disc to revisit a game that has captivated me for over 20 years and relive a bit of childhood wonder.

Image source: Nintendo GameCube; The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker