Storm Boy | PAX AUS 2018 Preview

by Dylan Blight

Storm Boy, based on the classic novel by Colin Thiele, is being brought to life in video-game form by Blowfish Studios later in November. I had the chance to check it out early at PAX Australia 2018.

The story follows the “storm boy,” who lives a reclusive beach life in South Australia, and his friendship with a pelican he rescues and names Mr Percival. How much Blowfish Studios is changing the story, I don’t know—the PAX demo didn’t give a clear idea of the narrative structure or overall length.

I played the demo on Nintendo Switch. It let you explore the beach a bit and try a handful of mini-games with Mr Percival, all of which amused me for a short period.

You could hop onto a small craft and head out to sea to dive below the surface. I didn’t find anything to collect or interact with underwater, but it was beautiful—the papercraft-inspired art style, colors, and wonder beneath the clear blue ocean looked great on the Switch screen.

The next two mini-games were simpler. With a stick you can draw in the sand—so I wrote “hello, hi!” (Unsurprisingly, I later heard about people drawing… other things—because of course.) The following mini-game amused me the most for some reason: a simple game of fetch with Mr Percival. His animation was rather funny (not in a bad way), so I kept throwing the ball around for a couple of minutes and getting a laugh.

Blowfish has previously announced other mini-games like being able to fly Mr Percival around the sky, but I didn’t see those, or they weren’t accessible in the demo.

Although the demo left me feeling like the game will have a relaxing tone and be enjoyable for all ages, I would have liked to see heavier story content to understand how the whole thing will come together—but at least I don’t have long to wait.

A quick tidbit I discovered at PAX: not everyone watched the 1976 film based on Thiele’s novel, Storm Boy, at school. That might explain why my excitement for a video-game adaptation wasn’t fully reciprocated around the Explosion Network.

Storm Boy is releasing on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android on November 20.

Article by Dylan Blight
Edited by Ashley Hobley