Game: Pedro’s Adventures in Spanish
Genre: Adventure, Education
System: Steam
Developer|Publisher: Rocket Boy Games
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: US £24.99 | EU € 19,99 | UK £19.49
Release Date: July 29th, 2021
Review code provided with many thanks to Rocket Boy Games
Learning a Language
Learning a new language is not an easy feat. It takes time and patience. Usually requiring a vast combination of reading, speaking and listening to really get to grips with it. Pedro’s Adventures in Spanish is not so much a tool to teach you Spanish but a game that tests your understanding of the language.
If you are looking for an entertaining way to test your Spanish skills, whilst also enjoying a cute family-friendly adventure this is well worth checking out.
Before I begin this review I will mention I have very little familiarity with the Spanish language. In fact, in preparation for this review, I used a Spanish language CD and book for two weeks to try to better prepare for covering this game. While it may have helped a little this title does feel more designed for people with at least some familiarity of Spanish than total beginners like me.
Pedro the Underdog
You play as young Pedro, a typical underdog style hero with a heart of gold. The princess has been kidnapped and it is up to young Pedro to save the day. Along his journey, he will interact with a variety of NPCs carrying out various quests and even coming up against the odd monster.
The cast of the game is fully voice acted and the cast does a great job here. It was handy to listen to the words spoken and see the Spanish subtitles presented at the same time. Spanish words are often repeated regularly and while I’ll admit I didn’t know the exact translation I had an idea thanks to the characters’ expressions like anger and happiness.
The graphics are pixel-based with nice colourful sprites in a fantasy realm. You have your typical princess, underdog hero and the usual townsfolk. It has a family-friendly feel that is suitable for absolutely all ages. There is also a nice soundtrack that plays in the background as you explore. For the most part quite chilled and serene but sometimes builds when you encounter a more hostile character.
Point and Click
As a game, this is a traditional point and click style adventure. The game provides a small tutorial to familiarize yourself with the actions like moving, looking and interacting with objects. All these actions can be performed with the mouse. The general flow of the game is to find an item, pick it up and use it somewhere to progress to the next area.
When you select any action the game’s narrator vocally tells you the word in Spanish. When you talk to the NPCs you are often given a mini-quest which you can follow in the menu to keep track of what needs to be done.
A unique feature is that this game has a thirst and hunger meter. When Pedro walks about or engages with certain physical activities these meters will drain. If too low you won’t be able to perform certain actions like trying to fight an ogre.
You can replenish this by drinking water and eating food. It is different but feels kinda irritating at times as you have to backtrack to refill these meters. Also, the panting sounds Pedro makes when fatigued is quite annoying.
Even without the Spanish language barrier, there was the odd occasion where I knew what to do but didn’t quite understand how the game was asking me to do. This was often a common problem I encountered with older point and click adventures.
This game offers you no hints or further assistance if you get stuck which may leave some people hitting the gaming wall until the solution randomly hits them later in the day, or possibly in their dreams. Of course, I will totally admit most solutions are probably right in front of me but since my Spanish is not there yet I couldn’t grasp it.
Conclusion – Something to Add to Your Training
I actually find it very hard to rate this game. Pedro Spanish Adventure is a unique mix of point and click adventure and immersion in the Spanish language. It only really feels suited to players who have at least a decent grasp of the language already. If you go into the game expecting to learn the language from scratch you’ll probably leave disappointed. By being fully Spanish with no English assistance whatsoever this could prove to be a barrier for some gamers and even Spanish learners. I think what the developers set out to do here is easily achieved and this title would absolutely be a nice compliment to young folk studying the language in school. Or heck, even adults also trying to test their Spanish skills.
While I personally struggled with the game due to my lack of Spanish skills, this game has inspired me to keep studying. But much like any new skill, this will take time. Maybe one day I’ll be able to appreciate this game to its fullest.
Final Verdict: I Like It
