Inner Quest is a product of South Winds Games, the company behind some dependable family fun with games like
Airport Mania,
Simplz Zoo, and
Dylo's Adventure. Each time South Winds goes to work, they seem to recreate rather than innovate, but that doesn't mean putting out substandard product. With
Inner Quest, they took aim at the Casual genre and did quite well. The end product looks and sounds like a South Winds production; this tends to mean that things are dipped in primary colors, simply designed, and very bouncy. The music is even bouncy...
Inner Quest is the lightest of light fare, which may come as a surprise when you review the hardware specs. This game should be compatible across all versions of Mac OS X, since there doesn't appear to be anything dictated by graphics or sound to prevent
Inner Quest from running on older hardware. We're sure they had their reasons, but it's a tough sell in a world where loads of Flash-based games like
Inner Quest are available online, provided you have a relatively up-to-date browser and a fast connection to the 'Net.
The look and feel of Inner Quest is similar to gem-matching games you've seen before, but with some extra bits like themed boards that change their shape from level to level. We would have liked more variety, but bear in mind that Inner Quest is intended as an impulse buy, with a very reasonable cost that is reflected in equally modest amounts of game-design horsepower. You'll get a bit tired of seeing the same game elements over and over again, but this might translate into a sort of peaceful meditative state, rather than boredom. Core Casual gamers are generally an accepting lot, but the landscape for this type of game has become more crowded and more sophisticated in recent years. We'd put Inner Quest low on the innovation curve, but South Winds has certainly created an attractive and appealing game, especially for younger gamers.
