The Cave (2013)

The Cave is a disappointment. You're allowed to expect more from the famous industry veterans. [Feb 2013]

The Cave may not turn out to be the genre trailblazer that Maniac Mansion was, but this modern day classic puts a new spin on many of the adventure conventions that have been around since Colossal Cave.

Quotation forthcoming.

The Cave is really funny, with great puzzles, but it isn't a masterpiece because of some flaws.

The Cave's built from the same bedrock as Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, after all, and the trademark Double Fine humour is here in abundance. If some repetition is the price to be paid for hours of clever conundrums and charming gags, it's a deal well worth striking; a few lumps of coal in a goldmine of entertainment.

The Cave is clearly the 2013 heir to mythic LucasArts point'n click games of the early 90's. The fun in the writing and the great balance of the puzzles will surely make you feel nostalgic if you're 30 or more. As simple as efficient, Double Fine's game could have done better technically and some players won't be patient enough to keep round tripping again and again. Others could well feel like playing Day of the Tentacle again.

The Cave is a reasonably entertaining product, giving you a sufficient amount of content for its price tag. While all the adventure and platform elements were fused well together, you'll always somehow find yourself expecting more. It almost seems like the devs were playing it safe, never going that extra mile, never pushing the limit in any way.

A small game, but a tricky and clever one that's been made by a video game industry legend who thinks he's still able to surprise you. He is, even though he makes mistakes sometimes.

The Cave isn't meant for fans of platformers or adventure games. It's a casual title "for everybody" that has some flaws. The most tiring thing is the necessity to go through multiple screens with many characters separately. What is more, many of the puzzles are based on simple lever pulling, as if there were no more interesting ideas. Fans of classic games and Ron Gilbert don't need to be persuaded. If you're not one of them and want a relaxing game for two nights, you should give it a try - it's good, but not exciting.

GameSpy, however, is a website that gives away the answer to the riddle of whether The Cave is worth playing: yes. It doesn't hit the ability-powered platforming highs of Trine or the old-school adventure challenge of Maniac Mansion, and it appears the devs struggled to focus and define this ambiguous hybrid.

The Cave isn't bad, but it is mystifyingly bland for what it sets out to be – and that ends up being worse than a glorious failure. We need more games like this, with this much love on display. With its actual adventure bits lacking the spark of its concept and artistry though, The Cave ends up sending you on an ill-fated trudge through platform purgatory in more ways than one.

The Cave is a game that showed lots of promise, given those pulling the strings, and when it’s great, it’s really great.

Stripped of the excitement of finding new places and exploring them on those second and third runs through, The Cave is just an exercise in repositioning slow-moving characters. It has its high points, like a beautiful art direction and some smart dialog moments, but they're not enough to offset so much spelunking tedium.

Far from Ron Gilbert or Double Fine's best, but The Cave manages to deliver just enough satisfaction to avoid disaster. [Apr 2013, p.74]

Gorgeous levels, light story and simple puzzling, though necessary replayability is undermined by backtracking and repetition. [March 2013, p.93]

What lies beneath is a nostalgic, ornate adventure game, weighed down by a few stifling design decisions, but these alone aren’t egregious enough to detract from how enjoyable its style, setting and stories truly are.

Funny and pleasant at first, but ultimately a very tiring adventure. Play through the first third of the game and then just part with it amicably.

Though quirky, The Cave took an opportunity to revive a beloved classic and squandered it. I have to wonder if Schafer and Gilbert were active participants in this game's development, because the final product does not match what the gaming community has come to expect from these original thinkers.

A combination of a not particularly good puzzle game and a not particularly good platformer, helped out by strong writing and animation.