As games like Peggle and Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure have taught us, unicorns make just about everything better. So while the premise of Unicorn Parade may not be quite as eccentric as, say, Robot Unicorn Attack, it’s still pretty quirky. There’s also a surprisingly small number of unicorns for a game with a titlle like Unicorn Parade. Of course, that’s where you come in.
As games like Peggle and Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure have taught us, unicorns make just about everything better. So while the premise of Unicorn Parade may not be quite as eccentric as, say, Robot Unicorn Attack, it’s still pretty quirky. There’s also a surprisingly small number of unicorns for a game with a titlle like Unicorn Parade. Of course, that’s where you come in.
You see, there are few unicorns left in the world of Unicorn Parade. And it’s your job to find them. To do that you’ll need to raise a team of animals and head out on adventures.
Unicorn Parade is divided into two main modes. The first is pretty familiar. You’re given your own space where you can decorate as you please and grow crops that give your animals the energy they need to head out on adventures. It’s not all that unique — though the fact that you’re growing hamburger and jelly bean trees does give it its own quirky sense of charm — but it provides a nice complement to the adventure mode.
Here your animal will leave the safety of your home space and head out into unknown areas to explore. You’ll meet other characters who will give you tasks, and you can search objects like rocks or grass to find hidden coins or collectible items. You might even come across a treasure chest. In a nice twist, while exploring you actually have direct control over your animal, as you can move around with either the mouse or the WASD keys.
This mode is, admittedly, quite simple. The quests, at least early on, have you doing little more than searching the rocks near your quest-giver to find an item. And you’ll be searching a lot of rocks. It can get monotonous, but it’s hard to stop since you never know what you’ll find. For all of its simplicity, thought, the exploration in Unicorn Parade is a nice change of pace for Facebook gaming and holds quite a lot of potential.
The game also manages to make you forget about some of its annoyances thanks to its distinct personality. The dialog is generally quite funny and the goofy, hand-drawn art style is wonderful and even animates smoothly. At times it feels like you’re playing a cartoon.
Since Unicorn Parade just launched, it’s no surprise that it has a few glitches. On a few occaisions we’d move to a new area only to find our animal invisible. There are also features, such as the much needed full-screen mode, listed as coming soon. As the experience continues to be refined and fleshed out, it’s possible that Unicorn Parade could shape up to be something special. But even as it stands now, it’s a quirky and enjoyable adventure. With unicorns.
