Never Alone
Experience the epic journey of Nuna and Fox as they search for the source of an eternal blizzard that threatens the survival of everything they have ever known. Never Alone is an atmospheric puzzle platformer developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat, an Alaska Native people, drawn from a traditional story that has been shared across the generations. Guide both characters in single-player mode or play cooperatively with a friend as you trek through frozen tundra, leap across treacherous ice floes, swim through underwater caverns and face enemies both strange and familiar. (NOTE: Local co-op play requires at least one Xbox 360 or equivalent game controller). On over 75 "Best of 2014" lists and winner of "Best Debut Game" at the 2015 BAFTA Games Awards as well as "Game of the Year" and "Most Significant Impact" at the 2015 Games for Change Awards, nearly 40 Alaska Native elders, storytellers and community members contributed to the making of the game.
Game Discussion
Steam User 12
As an action game, it's fairly average, but as an "experiential documentary program," this game is remarkably successful.
체험형 다큐멘터리.
Steam User 10
Very cute and lovely platformer game. It has a bit of story and teachings about the Iñupiat people, so it's great if you like learning a little bit about different cultures. Personally the cuteness of the fox is what got me to buy the game though.
I played it in its entirity in co-op, both using Steam remote & local co-op, and I can heavily recommend this game as a co-op game. (It will require at least 1 person to use a controller).
NOT recommended to play it with a Steam controller if you play as Nuna, as aiming the bola is an absolute pain on it.
I only used singleplayer mode towards the end to complete the last few achievements, where I managed to get one of the characters stuck in a wall. But thankfully there's an option to restart from the last checkpoint.
It takes under 10 hours to finish the game (I have a few idle hours as well) + 100% all achievements using only a guide at the end, so all in all I recommend this game. Do keep in mind that the DLC "Foxtales" is required to complete the game if you care about achievements, though.
Steam User 10
Emotional and exciting adventure about an Inuit girl and a little fox surviving the adversities of the Arctic. A beautiful game, touching and with a nice and realistic gameplay. You can play it alone (managing both characters at the same time) or share it with another player, which in my opinion can enhance the experience. The game provides a lot of information about the Inuit people, an element that adds more feeling and authenticity.
Una emotiva y emocionante aventura sobre una niña inuit y un zorrito sobreviviendo a las adversidades del Ártico. Un juego precioso, conmovedor y con una jugabilidad agradable y realista. Puedes jugarlo solo (llevando a ambos personajes al mismo tiempo) o compartir su manejo con otro jugador, que en mi opinión puede mejorar la experiencia. El juego brinda una gran cantidad de información sobre el pueblo inuit, elemento que añade mayor sentimiento y autenticidad.
Steam User 8
Enjoyed this co-op experience. It is the standard platforming gameplay, but the authentic, tribal cutscenes makes it memorable. The game's difficulty was forgiving, even pushing us past challenges that we failed multiple times. Overall, we both liked it. My only complaint is the "bola weapon" was fairly difficult to use on a gamepad controller, from what appears to be a technical issue.
Steam User 6
This game is beautiful.
The amount of time and effort taken to not only make this an enjoyable game but also a learning experience is outstanding & truly commendable. You can tell there was a lot of passion and heart put into this.
The gaming mechanics were simple enough but for players like me, it was something to get used to at first. I haven't tried co-op yet but I'll probably need to soon enough! The game gets trickier as you have multiple actions to contend with at one time later on in the game.
This is an enjoyable sidescrolling platformer with real-life videos included periodically in the levels to learn more about the people, culture and environment.
Steam User 4
Cute game, beautiful visuals, and a nice story, but a warning: Do not buy this game looking for a good platformer. Every complaint I have about this game is about the platforming and movement mechanics, or the visual guidance in terms of what should be done at any point or whether things can even be reached with a jump. If you are okay with ramming your head against a wall for an hour at least on little aspects of the design they screwed up on, it's a good story to play through. Just don't expect the game mechanics to be clean.
Steam User 32
A fun wee game with a lot of heart.
A great game to play with your wife’s boyfriend.
Loved this game on so many levels. It’s a simple platform puzzle game that sheds light on the traditions and heritage of native people. I think the fact that a game was made almost entirely from the ground up based upon and in conjunction with an indigenous people is amazing and rare. It's not overly challenging but it's eye-candy, a compelling story and just a beautiful environment.
Never Alone is short and capable of being completed in a few hours. But its brevity makes it feel like a future favorite fairy tale that you'll revisit again and again. Something that you'll have friends over to watch and play together. The gameplay, unfortunately, is pretty weak platforming. The controls aren't great. Some of the puzzles are really… well, puzzling. Two of the polar bear scenes confounded me for a long time. It's not a great platformer by any means but you can tell the developer put all of their effort behind telling a story and visuals. I think these type of games, the focus is more on the story telling, rather than the gameplay/platforming. Which seems to just be added to create some sense of a game, rather than watching a video about a story.
Still I personally think the game was amazing because of the cultural experience it showed and the graphics and the fact that it was co-op added to that. I played it and enjoyed it for the unique story. After all, when has another beautiful game been made that brought to the wider public eye a tale from indigenous people that was so intentionally created to honor those people's traditions? Overall, my wife’s boyfriend and I enjoyed it quite a bit (especially the various cut-scene videos that give you more background on the Inuit). For the price, it's a great value.
7/10