American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge!

Last updated
American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge!
Kit Mystery Challenge cover.jpg
Developer(s) Webfoot Technologies
Publisher(s) THQ
Designer(s) Mandi Grant
Jim Grant
Composer(s) Yannis Brown
Series American Girl
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release
Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge! is a point-and-click adventure video game developed by Webfoot Technologies and published by THQ. It was released exclusively on the Nintendo DS on June 23, 2008, as part of the American Girl toy franchise. Set in 1930s Cincinnati, the game follows Kit Kittredge as she solves a range of mysteries in and around her neighborhood all while helping her family during the Great Depression.

Contents

Gameplay

Screenshot from the game. Kit Mystery Challenge gameplay.png
Screenshot from the game.

Kit Mystery Challenge uses the same engine and third-person viewpoint as Julie Finds a Way. Like in the previous game, Kit's Mystery Challenge loosely follows the events of the Central Series, and in a similar vein to L.A. Noire and the Nancy Drew video games, it is presented as an interactive mystery, with five main mysteries and a sixth mission in the form of minigames consisting of riddles and puzzle challenges, though unlike Nancy Drew the game is played from a third-person perspective, with the DS's touch screen used to show gameplay; the top screen is used to display dialogue and other essential information.

The player may freely roam its interactive open world on foot and visit any place at their own leisure, though the game's linear presentation limits this ability; only Kit's neighborhood can be explored in the first mystery. Solving the latter unlocks three more mysteries, allowing the player to visit different areas, such as a hobo village, downtown Cincinnati, and the local school. While solving mysteries, the player has to look for clues to be used as evidence, gather information from non-player characters, and analyze all the evidence and facts in order to solve it. [3]

Besides the main story, the player can also engage in a number of side missions, such as selling eggs to neighbors and other people around the city, or running errands for cash, which can be spent on various items, like buying food supplies or paying part of the house's mortgage. The player is also given access to a trunk with outfits where they can change Kit's appearance. [4]

Plot

In 1930s Cincinnati, Kit Kittredge and her family are facing a difficult life after Kit's father lost his business due to the Great Depression, forcing them to convert their residence into a boarding house in order to make ends meet.

Along the way, mysterious things occur in and around the household–the door to the Kittredges' chicken coop was left unlocked, a strand of pearls belonging to Kit's mother went missing, and one of the borders left early under suspicious circumstances.

In the sixth mystery, Kit takes on a number of riddles and challenges from her family and friends which she would later submit to the local newspaper.

Reception and publicity

The game saw relatively little publicity especially given its niche nature as a game for young girls based on a primarily American-centric franchise; IGN's Jack Devries gave the game a negative review, criticising its controls, camera scheme and gameplay, opining "as a fan of the genre, I fully support adventure games aimed at younger audiences. But they need to not suck. There has to be more to them than just talking to people and wandering around looking for one random thing that solves the case, and the controls can't be so broken that playing the game is clunky and hard even for an adult." [5]

Similarly, Jinny Gudmundsen of Common Sense Media opined that "it doesn't allow players much interaction in the process of being a sleuth," noting the game's low interactivity. [6] Gudmundsen also noted the game's complicated control scheme and lack of agency on part of the player character in a review on the children's technology site Tech With Kids, stating "Instead of engaging you by having you decide what you want to ask, the game simply controls all interaction between characters – you are just an observer. Plus, the controls are burdensome because you are constantly putting down the stylus to use the multi-directional controller to move Kit, and then picking the stylus back up again to tap on things on the screen." [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Yoshi Touch & Go</i> 2005 video game

Yoshi Touch & Go, known in Japan as Catch! Touch! Yoshi!, is a video game that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It debuted in Japan on January 27, 2005, in North America on March 14, 2005, in Europe on May 6, 2005, and in Australia on May 19, 2005. As of August 2007, the game sold 197,337 copies in Japan. Yoshi Touch & Go was produced by Takashi Tezuka and directed by Hiroyuki Kimura. The game was released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.

<i>Pokémon Ranger</i> 2006 Pokémon videogame spin-off

Pokémon Ranger is an action role-playing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and Creatures Inc. and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS video game console. The game was released on various dates, varying between continents. The game was released in Japan on March 23, 2006, in North America and Australia during 2006, and in Europe in April 2007. It was released on the European Wii U Virtual Console on February 25, 2016.

<i>Crosswords DS</i> 2008 video game

Crosswords DS is a puzzle video game developed by American studio Nuevo Retro games released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was previously released in Australia as CrossworDS but a new OFLC entry confirmed that Nintendo Australia re-released it with a European localization. Crosswords DS features over 1,000 crossword puzzles that the player solves by using the stylus. Despite the title, it also features word search puzzles and anagram puzzles. It makes use of similar handwriting mechanics that the Brain Age titles make use of. Crosswords DS is included in the Touch! Generations series of titles, which includes such popular games as Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Nintendogs. The background music was composed by Fabian Del Priore.

<i>Wario: Master of Disguise</i> 2007 video game

Wario: Master of Disguise is a platform game developed by Suzak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was released on January 18, 2007 in Japan, and on March 5 in North America. Its Japanese title, Phantom Thief Wario the Seven, refers to the fact that he has seven "forms". The game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in PAL regions and Japan in 2015 and North America in 2016.

<i>Tetris DS</i> 2006 video game

Tetris DS is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS on March 20, 2006, in North America, April 13, 2006, in Australia, April 21, 2006, in Europe, and April 27, 2006, in Japan. An installment of the Tetris franchise, the game supports up to ten players locally, and supported online multiplayer of up to four players using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection prior to its discontinuation.

<i>Professor Layton and the Curious Village</i> 2007 Japanese puzzle video game

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a puzzle adventure video game for the Nintendo DS system. It was developed and published by Level-5 in Japan and published by Nintendo worldwide. It was released in Japan in 2007 and worldwide the following year. It was re-released in Australia using the British English localisation and European artwork to replace the previously released North American localisation. Curious Village is the first game in the Professor Layton series, followed by Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. An enhanced mobile port of Curious Village featuring additional cutscenes, subtitled "HD for Mobile", was released in 2018.

<i>Digimon World Dawn</i> and <i>Dusk</i> 2007 video game

Digimon World Dawn and Digimon World Dusk, originally released as Digimon Story Sunburst & Moonlight in Japan, are two role-playing video games for the Nintendo DS handheld game console released in Japan on March 29, 2007 and North America on September 18, 2007. Together, they serve as the second instalment of the Digimon Story series, part of the larger Digimon franchise. Despite their western title, the games are not part of the Digimon World series.

<i>Kit Kittredge: An American Girl</i> 2008 comedy film directed by Patricia Rozema

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Rozema and written by Ann Peacock, based on the Kit Kittredge stories by Valerie Tripp. The film focuses on the American Girl character Kit Kittredge who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio during the Great Depression.

<i>SimAnimals</i> 2009 video game

SimAnimals is a life simulation video game published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS and Wii console systems. It was released on January 21, 2009, in North America. It was released on January 30, 2009, in Europe and on February 5, 2009, in Australia. A sequel, SimAnimals Africa, was released for Wii and Nintendo DS on October 27, 2009.

There have been a variety of Sesame Street video games released for video game platforms. Most of the Sesame Street video games were published and developed by NewKidCo.

<i>Professor Layton and the Last Specter</i> Japanese puzzle adventure video game

Professor Layton and the Last Specter, known in Europe as Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call, is a puzzle adventure video game produced by Level-5 for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Last Specter is the fourth game in the Professor Layton series, and is a prequel that takes place three years before the first trilogy, detailing how Professor Layton met his apprentice, Luke Triton and introducing Layton's assistant Emmy Altava.

<i>Nancy Drew: The Captive Curse</i> 2011 video game

The Captive Curse is the 24th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E10+ for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the plot of the game. The game is loosely based on the book Captive Witness (1981).

A number of adventure/rhythm video games based on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana and the film have been released. All the games were published by Buena Vista Games / Disney Interactive Studios.

<i>Kirby Mass Attack</i> 2011 video game

Kirby Mass Attack is a 2011 platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Part of the Kirby series, it is the fourth and last game in the series to be released for the DS. The game was later released for the Wii U's Virtual Console.

<i>Nancy Drew: Alibi in Ashes</i> 2011 video game

Alibi in Ashes is the 25th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affects the plot of the game. The game is loosely based on the books False Impressions (1990) and The Clues Challenge (2000).

<i>Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House</i> 2010 video game

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House is an adventure video game for the Nintendo DS handheld game console by Frogwares. It is the first in the Sherlock Holmes series to be made specifically for the DS.

Multiple video games based on the 2000 Nick Jr. television show Dora the Explorer have been released. Most of these games have received a mixed critical reception. Unlike other video games, these were not released in Asia, due to the TV show having less interest in that continent than North America and Europe. A number of other video games were released exclusively for the Nick Jr. website, such as Dora's 3D Driving Adventure, and Dora's 3D Pyramid Adventure.

American Girl is a series of video games developed by various studios and distributed by American Girl.

<i>Nancy Drew: The Deadly Device</i> 2012 video game

Nancy Drew: The Deadly Device is the 27th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E10+ for moments of mild violence. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Amateur and Master sleuth modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the plot of the game. The game is loosely based on the books The Crime Lab Case (2000) and In and Out of Love (1997).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kit Kittredge</span> Fictional character in the American Girl franchise

Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge is a fictional character in the American Girl series of books, written by Valerie Tripp. Kit serves as a protagonist and central character to her story arc, set during the Great Depression. Kit's core series of books was written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Walter Rane.

References

  1. ↑ "American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge!" . Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  2. ↑ "Shippin' Out June 23–27: Bad Company, Guitar Hero DS" . Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  3. 1 2 3 Gudmundsen, Jinny (2021-01-28). "American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge! Review". TechWithKids.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  4. ↑ "American Girl: Kit -- Mystery Challenge - Nintendo DS - GameSpy". ds.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  5. 1 2 DeVries, Jack (2008-08-01). "American Girl: Kit Mystery Challenge Review" . Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  6. 1 2 Gudmundsen, Jinny. "American Girl Kit: Mystery Challenge! Game Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.