Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet

If you’re still on the fence about this absolutely terrific game, let me add that at $19.99 USD on Steam, it’s more than a worthy bang for your buck. If you like to immerse yourself in tough but rewarding puzzles, pick up Nelly Cootalot. If you want to step into the shoes of a delightful, cartoon pirate – if only for a few hours – pick up Nelly Cootalot. If you want to laugh, smile, and generally have a jolly ol’ time, pick up Nelly Cootalot. You can thank me later.

The overall result is a delightful, charming, and relaxing affair. It's a Sunday afternoon television of a game, and goodness me, does that have a place. It's funny, daft, and the look is incessantly fantastic. Backgrounds are beautifully drawn, characters are well animated, and the voice cast are all modestly strong. And it's got Tom Baker in it. I had a thoroughly lovely time.

You’ll also want to interact with everything, not only because you need items to solve the game’s many puzzles, but also to hear what Nelly has to say. Between ridiculous situations, larger-than-life characters, and the protagonist’s own bizarre assumptions, the writing is hilarious. Early in the game, I inspected parcel tape and Nelly theorized it was “tape that can speak to snakes.” She also suggested padded envelopes were for criminally insane letters.

When its Kickstarter campaign ran in 2013, Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet raised £5,000 more than its target. Now, as well as being available on Steam, the muc

In a month full of high-quality adventure games from some of the most respected names in the genre, relatively unknown newcomer Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet could be my favourite of the lot. It’s incredibly funny and charming, with a lovely kid’s cartoon feel to it. The puzzles may not be the most challenging but they’re well thought-out and still satisfying to solve. The characters are all wonderful, with Nelly in particular being a lovable scamp of a protagonist. My only real compla...