I started this expecting a light-hearted summer game considering the weather here right now is actually windy, rainy and dark. I guess the UK's two weeks of summer are already over. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure despite being a short indie game aimed at all ages kinda hit me in the gut a bit, and though the overall theme is one of education and hope it actually left me feeling a bit down about humanity in general but that is no fault of the game.

Quite the opposite, I think Alba is a lovely little relaxing title. You play the titular character Alba visiting her grandparents on an island. The damaged nature reserve is under threat to be removed in favour of an out of place luxury hotel. Taking it upon yourself with a friend to get a petition signed and stop it. This involves repairing bird houses, photographing wildlife, cleaning litter etc to get the locales on your side, stop the greedy corporation and save the day.

Though short and linear it's a small open world allowing you to explore at your own pace, talk to locals and find various birds and animals for your nature book. The game has a lot of heart and a nice simple visual style with clear cut blocky graphics. The music has this Spanish guitar feel to it and it all comes together nicely as a while as it progresses. The only real issue I had was that sometimes when interacting with objects or people the game would freeze for 3-5 seconds like it had crashed and it happened fairly frequently.

It's fairly short at only a few hours to 100% but that is exactly what I was looking for. I had a long couple of weeks, you see I work in the environmental sector of sorts which is why this game was both lovely and sad at the same time. Humans are destroying the world through both minor and major acts of selfishness. Destroying animal habitats and cruelty. Even just basic acts of spraying graffiti, littering all build up. Please play this and just think about what you do, what you buy and how you treat others, animals, recycle and reuse.

Agent Smith in the Matrix was right.

When I first started this, my naïve first impressions were, "Wait... is all you do in this game just walk around the island and take pictures of the wildlife?" and, while the answer to that is yes, it's far more compelling than you may realise.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is set on the fictional Spanish island town of Secarral, where the titular character is staying on vacation to visit her grandparents. While she's there, the town mayor and a shady businessman make the announcement that the town's beloved nature reserve is getting torn down to make way for a five-star luxury hotel. Now it's up to Alba and her best friend, Inés, to form a Wildlife Rescue League and save the island with petitions and photographs.

It's a short, sweet and incredibly cute adventure that is very confident in its messaging and presentation and conveys that through simple, cozy gameplay as you catalogue all of the island's adorable animals (none of which you can pet, unfortunately.) The locals and locales of the island are all really charming as well, which helps sell its chill summer vibes and relaxing atmosphere.

My only complaints with the game are its animal variety and smaller things like not being able to move around while you have your phone out to take a picture. These two go hand-in-hand since the vast majority of the animals you encounter on the island are birds and many of them you're only able to catalogue by photographing them as they're flying. Since they never really stop or fly slowly enough, it can be quite tedious as you try to line up the shot and zoom perfectly.

But I digress. Despite this, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a truly wonderful game with a powerful message that is conveyed sincerely and naturally through the exploration and joy of its environment, helped by the oh-so-charming sights, sounds, and vibes of the island and its people.

9.5/10

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”

From the BAFTA-Award winning ustwo games studio comes Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. An absolutely fantastic experience, imbued with personality at every turn, that can be completed in a single session, with an emotional finish and a great message about preserving nature and it's wonders.

Join Alba Singh, a cute pig-tail haired girl, as she visits her grandparents on a fictional Mediterranean island of Pinar del Mar. She is ready for a peaceful summer of wildlife exploration with her friend Ines in the town of Secarral, but when the mayor decides to doom the island's nature reserve to a sad fate, they decided to gather up signatures for a petition from the people of the town.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure shows the power of a little girl and what she can do to make things better. It feels like the world is actually becoming a better place through small act of kindness and compassion that you could do in the real world today. It’s a good game to give to children, to help pass along the idea that they can make a difference, they can help the world, if they so choose. The game is a great experience for all ages though, and anyone can help out mother nature with small deeds through out their lives.

It's a beautiful experience that I was very happy to be able to experience. I have to thank my good friend Gina for gifting it to me, such a lovely game and it will forever stay in my favorites list. I wish more games would bring so much joy and happiness.

In Alba: A Wilfelife Adventure you play as Alba, a young nature-loving girl who is visiting her grandparents for a week on a fictional island in the Mediterranean (or I'm pretty sure that's where this is supposed to take place). Shortly after arriving Alba learns about a new development project that is going to be built on the site of the island's poorly maintained nature sanctuary. You and your friend Inés are against the development, and you take it upon yourselves to make sure all construction activities are stopped.

You do this by starting a petition which requires signatures from the inhabitants of the island. You'll gain someone's signature by helping them with a small task, such as by photographing a specific animal, finding a lost pet, picking up garbage, or fixing something that is broken. The tasks are all super easy to complete, but that's okay. Alba is a very chill game that you can tackle at your own pace.

After a brief introduction to the story, you are given free reign to explore the island as you see fit. You are equipped with four main tools: an island map, a quest log, a wildlife guidebook/checklist, and a cell phone. There are a few other items/upgrades you obtain throughout the playtime which allow you to complete certain tasks. The two most relied upon tools are the guidebook and the cell phone. The guidebook has two components: the checklist, which shows which animals you have photographed, broken down by region, and has individual pages for each of the island's animals to help with identification. These individual pages include a picture of the animal as well as the ability to play a sound clip of the animal. Your cellphone is used for taking animals. It has an animal identification app installed on it, so once you snap your first photo of an animal you will be provided with its English and Latin names, and it will also be marked off in your guidebook.

I am no birding expert, but I do dabble in bird identification and photography in real-life, at least when the weather cooperates. One thing that I feel Alba really nails is how the different species look and act. The game's art style is simple and minimal, but it works well here. Each of the species looks different from one-another and they really do look just like their real-life counterparts. Real animal sounds were used for each of the animals too, and I often knew a new species was in the area just because of the sound it made. It was really neat to identify a new bird before even seeing it. Another incredible touch is that the animals all exist only in the habitats they should be in, and they act how they should be acting. They fly and perch in places that only make sense for their real-life counterparts. The developers put a lot of love and attention into this game and made a great effort in making the wildlife look, sound, and behave as true to life as they could.

I really enjoyed my time with Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. I feel like it may have been intended for a younger audience, but I still had a great time with it. It was a quick playthrough, taking less than 4 hours to get 100% completion, but it was a memorable experience from start to finish. The art style was pretty basic, but it worked incredibly well in this world, giving a good amount of character to the world around you. The sound design was spot on too with good music throughout, and I especially liked the implementation of real-life animal sounds, too. The best part for me was seeing each of the animal species in the environments they should be in and acting as they should be acting. It is easy to see that developers truly had a passion for this subject matter, which I truly appreciate seeing. I highly recommend Alba: A Wildlife Adventure to nature enthusiasts or to anyone looking for a short and chill game to play.

Pros:
- Cute little game where you explore a small island trying to collect signatures to save a nature reserve, while taking photos of any animals you find (mostly birds) and cleaning the environment. It’s very short but an enjoyable time for what it is
- Good art style
- Liked Alba’s skip animation

Cons:
- Missing a jump button

alba is worth your time due to its palpable sense of place and its kindheartedness. the gameplay does feel lacking, in that alba's movement isn't particularly enjoyable. a more serious problem is that the gameplay involves mostly taking pictures (which is cool) and pressing A to do various things-- fixing benches, picking up trash, curing animals, but in the end it all just feels like pressing A. the game becomes a checklist of A button presses. despite all that, though, the game has incredible visuals and music, and it has a story to tell that is written and structured well. the final scenes also subvert some of the gameplay mechanics established in the previous parts, which was also cool.

i recommend it, though don't expect something particularly complex mechanically.

a very cute little educative game but i would say it's suited more towards children, i wish i had this kind of games to play when i was a kid... i would absolutely love it. but now as an adult, i would say it lacks many things - my biggest complaint being the lack of description / information on the guidebook. it would be amazing if every animal had their description (i think it should be a default with this kind of game, i thought i just didn't know where to check but turns out the option is simply not there) - this way we would be able to learn actually cool facts and possibly memorize them but the way it is in the game, i forgot about most of the birds 20 minutes after scanning them. one other thing that struck me as weird: there is no achievement for scanning every animal? i am not saying this is bad, it just felt like a different choice to me since i was 100% sure there would be an achievement for this from my previous gaming experiences. to end on a good note, the sound design was absolutely amazing and i loved learning about each animal's unique sounds!

Absolutely lovely experience, It was so fun exploring Alba's world!

Its main appeal are the 60ish birds (and a handful of other animals) that populate the island and breath life into it with unique animations, patterns, and most importantly - sound.

My only complaint is that Alba is essentially a snap like game where you photograph and catalogue birds, but the game cares very little for photography. There's no real album in the game and the catalogue adds a premade photos, ignoring the actual one you took.

Nevertheless it is a rich and vibrant island that anyone should pay a visit.

As summer nears and games release, I thought it would be a good idea to finally play Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, both as an introduction to the approaching season and to just evade for a while playing a nice and short game. And while I expected it to be at least decent, I never could have expected it to be such a direct punch to the nostalgia.

While I didn't grow up in the same Mediterranean landscapes this game shows (this part of the country is... a bit less sunny, to say the least) I still experienced the sensations of wonder and fun while exploring the beautiful forests and seaside during what seemed like endless and perfect summers, being marveled at the mere sight of an animal, be it just a common cat or a rare bird, to even the unforgettable sight of watching a group of dolphins jumping across the sea while sitting on the sand and the sun sets. All of these feelings and sensations are the ones Alba: A Wildlife/Mediterranean Adventure strives to replicate, and in that department it absolutely shines like a summer sun.

The small location of Secarral feels so real that I'm beginning to question if it's even a fake town; the locales, woods and ruins are just so vibrant and filled with that indistinguishable personality of the Spanish coasts, as so are its people and, above all else, the fauna. While the premise itself focuses on stopping a businessman that wants to build a luxury hotel an and a mayor that is clearly part of the PP (if you know, you know), you'll spend your time on the island taking photos of the different animals as well as you help them and repair the now broken structures of the natural reserve, and you can see how the isle changes because of you for the better; it’s so cozy a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate would make it perfect, that is if it wasn’t 42 °C. There’s such a feeling of peace and pure innocence in every little detail and plotline that even saying yes or no here is fun, the smallest actions are what make the game what it is, which it is a stroll, and as such is a simple as one, for better… and worse.

Even tho my cognitive capabilities are questionable at best, if I’ve learned something through gaming this year, that would be how to do simplicity well. I’ve played a ton of very mechanically simple games, and for most of them that ended up being a huge strength, both when actively playing it, but specially narratively, and where Alba: A Wildlife Adventure trips along the route is that, while selling the idea of you being a small child exploring the world, it also undersells the potential the world itself could have had. ‘’Wildlife Walk’’ would be a better subtitle for the game, since pretty much all of your options are walking, taking photos and being able to press A at designated spots, and while you not having much interaction with the world itself isn’t that big of a deal (tho I would have preferred that the photos that you took could be actually saved or at least appear on the animal guide), the fact that the animals and inhabitants don’t really have routines, but rather just stand there or fly at their designated spots, really breaks the initial illusion of fidelity and realism the game was following. Of course I’m not saying that every single NPC, both human and animal, should have had a super complex AI with clear routines depending of the hour, absolutely not, but considering how the games takes place during a whole week, seeing everything at the exacts same places each time begins to take a toll on the feelings of wonder and uniqueness. There are still unique missions that present a specific animal or a brand-new locations that are really cool, but again, the fact everything besides what you interact with directly feels so static, combined with some strangely choppy and even glitchy animations on some birds and even humans and that, for a game that goes as far as not including fast travel for the sake of immersion (which I don’t mind at all and I’m not complaining), most of the signatures you need to get to stop the construction of the hotel just appear randomly at times instead of being added after talking to a NPC or at least them being present there, it all just screws a bit over what Secarral wanted to be, and by Friday, even if it was still entertaining, most of the child-like fun had vanished… and then Saturday happened.

The last moments of the game are a fantastic ending to the whole experience, one not without its flaws as I said, but at the end, it’s still a game that mainly wanted to be this love letter to both culture and nature, a celebration of everything that is beautiful and the efforts that should be mad to preserve it, both when there’s adversity… and when there’s peace. And in that final moments where it remind me of that, I just couldn’t stop thinking how much I enjoyed this little town and island, how funny and charismatic the characters where, and I realized that the dumb smile I had when I started lasted on my face till the very end.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventures has a younger audience in mind, and I really believe that much of the over-simplicity originates from them being a huge target, but it’s also a short, pretty time that I think almost everyone would enjoy. It’s imperfect, it’s lacking, it’s wonderful. For some I’ll hit harder, maybe even than me, but you won’t know for sure until you take a wild on the wild side… and try soME PAELLA LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

What if Pokemon Snap wasn't on rails and was more charming

This game is the exact right amount of wholesome, delightful fun that really cheered me up during a bummer of a week. Skipping around the island with Alba as she took photos of animals, cleaned up trash, fixed bird houses, etc. was a joy.

This game teases the idea of what New Pokemon Snap could've been like if it weren't on rails. And that is a game I wish we got.

+ Delightful, charming, wholesome
+ Satisfying to find and check off all the animals
+ Extremely cute animations and style
+ Relaxing

- Sometimes some of the animals or leftover checklist items were hard to find

positive wildlife conservation themes and pretty wholesome.

the gameplay isn't anything too insane. most of it is just taking pictures and pressing A until you've interacted with everything in a given area, but it's clearly created for a younger audience and so i don't think its fair for me to say "wow gameplay chugs" or anything like that. definitely the best part is trying to get all of the animals scanned on your phone, as you can listen to the sounds they make in the wildlife guide and then recognize that sound in game to figure out where they are if you can't easily see them.

unfortunately, i feel like so many birds look like each other (lmao) and that's kinda just a fault of reality, i guess, but when they're flying in the air and such it's very difficult to actually tell what a bird is unless you're pointing the camera at it. as such, a large portion of this game is spent looking at birds with your camera that you already have logged, which ends up feeling a little silly. totally could be a me problem though for sure. also, the wildlife guide is disappointingly bare. it has all of the creatures, what they look like, their scientific name, and their sound, but that's it. there's no fun fact or diet or wingspan or anything listed about the creatures, and that ends up making them feel more like checks on a checklist as opposed to creatures that you should strive to conserve, which i feel reduces the effect of this game overall.

there is a website called Ecologi that supports reforestation, and the creators of Alba, Ustwo Games, commits one tree to that mission for every game downloaded or sold. as of my time of writing, they're currently in place 5th on the leaderboard for businesses with just over 1 million trees funded, which i think is pretty neat. to conclude: Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a cute and simple game without much mechanical depth, but one for a good cause. i think it's pretty easy to get behind, and definitely deserves to exist.

'Alba: una aventura mediterránea' funciona a medio camino entre una reivindicación ecologista y una sátira de la política valenciana, con sus alcaldes corruptos y el del bigotes escaqueándose de la justicia. Como pilla de cerca, es agradable ver parte de nuestra cultura y folclore reflejada en un videojuego sin caer en los tópicos foráneos; para la gente de afuera no obstante, encontrarán el arroz con cosas que se les presenta básico, sin mucho sentido pero inspirado. Suficiente para denominarlo paella y darle buenos reviews, supongo...

Parte del encanto del juego es explorar Secarral en busca de animalitos cucos y hacerles una foto, recoger la basura desperdigada, o restaurar el deteriorado mobiliario urbano en la naturaleza. No es algo particularmente divertido que digamos, y muy pronto se nota que la jugabilidad parece cosida a balazos y carece de profundidad alguna: no importa cuán buenas sean las fotos o la recompensa que obtengamos de salvar a los animales (ninguna). El problema es más notorio por la limitadísima movilidad que posee Alba (tan lenta como una tortuga y no puede saltar) y la estructura abierta que posee el juego, que tampoco esconde apenas secretos que inviten a la exploración y a rejugar la partida. Afortunadamente, la aventura dura bastante poco y ha sido condensada dentro de un entorno lo suficientemente pequeño como para que las molestias mencionadas no lleguen a ser una carga demasiado grande.

Lo que salva a 'Alba' de la quema (literalmente) es su encanto y el espíritu activista que encarna y demanda a una sociedad dejada y despreocupada por las consecuencias que genera su convivencia. Solo mirar a la niña pequeña trotando por el campo hace que el corazón humano se derrita, con su imberbe sonrisa de lado a lado cada vez que le llama la atención algo del entorno. Usar el joystick para asentir o negar con la cabeza, saborear un helado y ver que se hace más pequeño con cada helado. 'Alba' tiene estos pequeños momentos que emplean el costumbrismo y el folclore regional para recrear la ilusión e inocencia de nuestra infancia, y emplearla como catalizador de un movimiento generacional por hacer de Secarral una postal de ensueño.

No es perfecto ni mucho menos, pero se hace de querer.

Tal vez se deba al hecho de que la naturaleza tan idealizada de este libro de colores para adultos contrasta mucho con mi propia experiencia de niño, pero hay cierto carácter impostado en las formas de este juego que me echa un poco para atrás. Lo peor de todo, en mi opinión, es que a las criaturas de esta historia no se les permite, ante todo, ser criaturas. En vez de jugar a explorar por tu cuenta, meterte en líos e ir un poco a la tuya por la isla del Secarral (ya sea para matar el aburrimiento o incordiar a tu familia), juegas el papel de una niña híper-idealizada que puede hacer literalmente cualquier cosa que se le proponga. A un juego con tan poca profundidad se le va la vida, en mi opinión, cuando intenta meterte muchas tareas a la vez. Al final, lo único que haces es recolectar y rellenar el cuaderno de las tareas, y no creo que eso esa lo que unas vacaciones deberían ser.

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Perhaps it's due to the fact that this adult coloring book contrasts so sharply with my own experience as a child that used to vacation in a similar place, but there's a fakeness to this work that turns me off. The clearest example I can offer is that the children of the game are never allowed to act as children. Instead of exploring on your own or getting into shenanigans because you want to kill boredom or annoy your family, you act as this highly idealized girl who's the best at everything they ask her to be. A game with so little depth loses me when it tries to cram so many tasks at once. In the end, all you're doing is collecting and filling in your notebook, which is not what vacations should be about.

so good it almost makes me think i actually like summer. just ab everything on offer as texture is obvious from the first 30 minutes but its rly all u need,,,even for my Slightly Chunkier playthru where i went for 100%, its a less-then-four-hour bundle of deeply felt warmth, daring to be quiet and uneventful in ways even other games of its Calming ilk dont tend to do. and still the forward momentum is constant despite that, idk how they got the rhythm down so well. add this to the list of video game Places i will occasionally think ab and missing Feeling In My Hands

From the moment you first see Alba's walk cycle it becomes apparent that this game is about the carefree spirit of childhood, which is what makes the fact that it's also about political participation so interesting. Obvertly, the game asks you to raise awareness and get signatures, which can seem naively simplistic in such times, but I was pleased to see the game implicitly endorse direct action by just having you make improvements to the town on your own. Consuming media is not and cannot be activism, and it's always more important to address material concerns, but I appreciate Alba in this moment for finding joy and wonder in the work because win or lose, there's always more to be done.