Game: Buddy and Friends on Halloween
Genre: Puzzle
System: Steam (Windows & macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Mens Sana Interactive
Controller Support: No
Price: US $1.99 | UK £1.69 | EU € 1,99
Release Date: October 25th, 2023
Review code used, with many thanks to Mens Sana Interactive.
Indie developers and publishers Mens Sana Interactive has recently released a new jigsaw puzzle game in their Buddy the Cat series, Buddy and Friends on Halloween. At LadiesGamers, we have reviewed several Mens Sana games, myself included. I’ve yet to come across a game they have developed or published that hasn’t been enjoyable to play.
It’s Halloween
Buddy and Friends on Halloween is a cute jigsaw puzzle about Buddy the Kitten and his friends Pandora, Oliver and Whiskers.
It’s Halloween, and Buddy and his friends decide to go out trick or treating in the local neighbourhood. So they all dressed in their finest spooky and scary attire and hit the streets. Even though the story is based around Halloween, it isn’t scary in the slightest and is heartwarming and suitable for all ages in the family. The story centres around compassion and kindness and is a sweet tale.
Plenty of Jigsaws
In all, there are six jigsaw puzzle pictures for you to piece together. Each puzzle comes in different quantities of jigsaw pieces, from 60, 135, 240, 375 and 540. With the puzzles having different qualities of pieces, they get more challenging as the pieces are smaller in size.
Beautiful Illustrations
From Buddy’s decorated bedroom to the mysterious streets, each of the six images is a beautifully illustrated scene that captures the essence of Halloween in a magical and heartwarming way.
Furthermore, Katia Numakura, who illustrated all the Buddy games in the series, has also illustrated the images for this game. The images are beautiful and pop off the screen. They are extremely well-drawn and colourful, with a little animation in each scene.
Ghosties and Ghouls
Completing the jigsaws is simple enough. Of course, moving to the puzzles with more pieces offers a challenge. I particularly liked the slight animation when I placed a puzzle piece correctly; a little ghost flew out of the jigsaw piece, and it chimes.
Highlight the Border Pieces
Additionally, there are plenty of tools to help you as you make the jigsaw. You can shuffle the remaining pieces, highlight a group of pieces, and highlight all the border pieces. Being able to highlight the border pieces is a great idea. It is a jigsaw border I always make first.
You can drag the puzzle board around using the mouse, though I’m curious why you need to move the whole board, as I didn’t find a need to move the board. Most importantly, you can zoom in on any area of the puzzle to give you a better view. Finally, you can have a sneak peek of the completed scene if you require help.
While completing the puzzles, you can listen to suitably spooky Halloween music.
Conclusion
All in all, Buddy and Friends on Halloween is a wholesome experience for youngsters and adults alike.
I don’t have any complaints about the game, except it’s short since there are only six puzzles. However, you can have a relaxing time puzzling for less than the price of a cup of coffee. The music, jigsaws and the final images combined set the scene for a spooktacular time.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up 