NUTS

When I loaded up the new game NUTS, I'll admit that I was skeptical. I mean, how much fun can a squirrel tracking simulator actually be? But all it took was a few minutes for me to realize that I was wrong. There's a moment early on when it becomes clear that this is not going to be one of those games where we sit around watching squirrels, but rather something bigger and more complicated than I could have ever imagined. And that's just the start of this surprisingly and thoughtful new adventure game. Here is my review.

It's 1997 and you've taken a job as a researcher for the Viago Institute, a group tasked with conducting an environmental impact study on a nearby forest before a mega-corporation can bulldoze everything and create a massive amusement park named Panoramaland. Your job is to spend several months observing and documenting the food sources and nesting locations of the forest's squirrel population and then send the information back to Nina, who we're told conducted a very similar study 15 years ago.

Although time consuming, your job is surprisingly simple and straight-forward. What you need to do is monitor the forest using a three-camera setup. During the day, you'll want to move the cameras to different parts of the forest, positioning them in hopes of recording the squirrels and figuring out their patterns. Then, by night, you'll scrub through the footage looking for movement and information. Once you've found the squirrel, you'll need to reposition the cameras in order to track the path and find out both where they are going and where they came from. Once you've figured that out, you'll need to print out a picture and fax it to Nina. Easy, right?

Not so fast. Right from the first assignment, there are signs that things are not going to be as simple as they might initially seem. For one thing, the squirrels are often tricky to track, especially when you're dealing with two or three at once. There are also signs that things are not going well for Nina, who can't wait to shake things up with each new assignment. And then there's the troubling thing you saw in the squirrel nests, which will have huge ramifications on the rest of the game.

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Given the narrative focus, first-person perspective and the fact that you're exploring a forest, I don't blame you if you assumed that NUTS is one of those so-called "walking simulators." It's not. While the story is certainly front-and-center, a lot of the game focuses on your job, which includes a lot of moving cameras and watching the footage you recorded. It's easy to look at each stage as an elaborate puzzle you'll have to solve, all of which will get you one step closer to experiencing the dramatic and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. For a game about tracking squirrels, NUTS gets surprisingly intense.

There are a few things this game gets right. For one thing, I like how each stage is set in a different part of the forest. This not only allows for some nice variety, but it also means that the individual chunks of the forest are big without being too overwhelming. It's also easy to navigate the terrain, thanks to the portable GPS unit, which does a good job showing you where the cameras are located and the path you took to get to them. And, most importantly, tracking the squirrels is surprisingly fun. It's a task that sounds simple, but ends up being both challenging and rewarding. Best of all, I actually cared about the mystery and the journey the isolated researcher goes on.

NUTS also has a striking visual style that really stands out. I love the way that it plays with color and how the trees, rocks, squirrels and everything else looks like it was drawn as line art. The game does a great job highlighting the objects you can interact with, that way you're never fumbling around looking for the item you need. There's something meditative and relaxing about documenting the forest, and the music perfectly fits the mood and pacing. I like the presentation all around.

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Oddly enough, my biggest complaint is the game's relatively short length. It took me around three hours to complete NUTS, which isn't bad, but this is one of those cases where I would have liked to have seen some filler. It can feel like the story is in a rush to show all of its cards, whereas I wanted a few more levels of tracking squirrels. Don't get me wrong, the story is great, but I had the most fun doing the actual research work. With only five stages, I don't feel like I got enough squirrel tracking to keep me satisfied. I wish that I could replay the stages with randomized locations and paths, because I didn't get my fill from the story mode. That's a shame.

On the other hand, desperately wanting to play more of a game is not necessarily the worst problem to have. While I would have enjoyed a little more squirrel tracking, I can also appreciate that the story doesn't drag or overstay its welcome. The mystery is genuinely intriguing, and even when you figure out where the story is going, NUTS still has a few surprises waiting for you. Who knew that squirrel watching could be this much fun?