Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Prince Duckling Preview

Anyone familiar with the works of Hans Christian Andersen might consider the name of the game that feature him prominently to be a bit of a mish-mash when it comes to his fairy tales. But when you look at the game itself, it makes sense.

Guppyworks is the developer behind the title, with The Adventure Company publishing the PC title at the end of the month. GameZone.com caught up with Guppyworks Thursday at the Game Developers’ Conference in San Francisco.

This is a delightful adventure that features many of the control elements of a point-and-click title (you can use the keyboard for navigation, though), with areas to explore, side quests to receive, levers to manipulate, items to find, inventories to manage and … well, the list continues. Plunk all of this into a wonderfully visual world and you have a title that is certain to please young and old alike.

In The Ugly Prince Duckling, Andersen is a teenager on his way to town, where a princess approaches a key birthday. She is of marrying age, and there is … hmm, no spoilers here – let’s just say that there is a villain, who convinces an evil and ominous creature to kidnap her. It is up to the young Andersen to rescue the princess and save the kingdom. Along the way he will meet some of the characters (of the 60 featured in the game) who will later appear in his fairy tales.

Game features include proprietary character behavior AI – in other words, the characters have jobs and tasks that they do on a daily basis, which will have them roaming about Copenhagen of the 1800s. There are lots of puzzles, action and socially oriented game mechanics, and about 10-15 hours of gameplay, depending on skill level.

The characters almost have a marionette look to them, and most of the NPCs have knowledge about the various quests Andersen is on and so they may aid the player as he or she controls Andersen.

The city itself has five quarters, and there is a dungeon that runs under the city. Expect small load times as Andersen transitions from one quarter to another. In some respects the game is linear, but players will be able to save at any time (except during cutscenes).

The look of the game is captivating. “It is a family game,” said Creative Director Per Rosendal, “therefore we believe it is important to have appealing graphics.”

HCA – The Ugly Prince Duckling looks to be a solid family title that could score big points with a variety of age groups.