Jolly Rover is a fun little game.
To start off, I'm going to say I highly enjoyed Jolly Rover, part of this might be due to the fact I didn't have high expectations when I started playing, I thought it would be a decent game (in the best scenario) that I would have to force myself to finish and hopefully pass some time, it ended up being not like that at all, I even hoped the game was a bit longer, but I do have in mind that it's not sufficient having a longer game simply to theoretically keep the player playing but failing to maintain the experience rock solid throughout the entire play-through, it's better have a brief but intense play-time, than a long-lasting game that doesn't succeed in entertaining the player the whole time. The game will keep you playing for about 5 hours, many multiplayer-focused games of today have that for their single player experience, of course Jolly Rover doesn't have multiplayer but it also doesn't cost 60 dollars, serves to show it's not bad actually. It's just sad that the replay value is practically non-existent, except if you wish to complete the game 100% and couldn't do it the first time, which isn't really hard to perform anyway. Jolly Rover, despite its simplistic approach and low-budget production value, will hand the player a good time.
This is a point-and-click adventure game, so it's essential for you keep in mind that you won't find action moments of any kind, this is all about following the light-hearted story, traveling through many backgrounds and finding solutions to the problems in hand, to do that the player will have access to many items collected during the adventure, many of which can be combined for distinct effects, using these items in the correct location or on the correct person is the key to victory. You should use tips from conversations you had with people, hints from a parrot you team up early in the game, or just plain logic to advance. If you're having trouble with something you can always ask the parrot for help, he'll give you a clever little sentence that should point you to the right direction, if you find his advice insufficient, you have the option to feed the bird with crackers. Crackers are one of the collectibles found in Jolly Rover, along with pirate flags bits and pieces of eight coins (an ancient historical currency from the old times); finding these items will earn the player some bonus features like art gallery with concept art or some cool stuff like character/locations art development, music tracks, etc. Another cool gameplay element is the Voodoo book, which lets the player perform some magic enchantments with results like making fruits fall down from trees or raising up dead spirits, every voodoo spell has a contrary spell to back it up (like a spell for making a fruit fall and one to make it go back up), the way James Rover performs the movements to make the incantation is also hilarious.
Jolly Rover has its charm, it's crafted within the funny dialogs and peculiar ways the story unfolds presented by each charismatic character, the story takes place in the 18th century and has piratey references all over it- which automatically brings to memory a classic point-and-click adventure, the Monkey Island series. It appears to happen in a world dominated by dogs, dogs of all kinds, one of these dogs is none other than Gaius James Rover, the protagonist, someday he's sailing his ship and sees a pirate ship, he decides to say "hello" and with that ends up kidnapped, from there a series of events take place, telling the reader anything more than that would spoil things up, since a game like this bases itself heavily upon the story. Of course the story doesn't amaze, but it's so funny and charming that it's hard not to feel hocked. The voice-over is pretty good, the characters all speak in a very piratey colonial-style, James Rover's voice takes the crown, with his British-sounding voice.
Of course Jolly Rover is not destined to be the best game ever, but it's certainly not the worst, not many gamers today would have the patience to endure even the minimal 5-hour play-through, since this is not about bullets flying or blood splashing, but for those who would like to experience a nice little story of a dog sailor who happens to find trouble just as easy as you'd find stars in a cloudless night sky, then you should give this game a go. If it's not your thing, then it's not your thing, that's life.
