A Bear's Night Out review If 1996's Ralph was a game that managed to be consistently doggy in its outlook--in that it effectively took on the perspective of a house mutt--1997's Bear's Night Out is quite consistently, well, beary; the player is put in the position of a teddy bear that mysteriously comes to life one night and pads merrily about its owner's house. (Actually, given how comfortable this particular bear seems to be with exploring on its own, perhaps this isn't the first time--the game isn't clear on this point.) It's a genuinely charming premise that author David Dyte carries off with humor, and as with Ralph, that premise shapes both the plot and the puzzles in a way that makes Bear's Night Out feel fresh.

Your goal, which you discover on the course of your explorations, is to prepare for the annual Teddy Bears' Picnic, slated to happen the next day, by finding out what you need to bring and assembling it. (The author sprinkles quotes in pop-up format throughout the game, but "If you go down in the woods today..." is not one of them, curiously.) Why you need to do all this yourself rather than leaving it to your owner is not wholly clear, but it hardly matters: the story holds together adequately in setting out a series of problems. The best of them hinge on the problems associated with inhabiting a teddy bear's body--unlike Ralph, the identity of the central character is in several instances an obstacle to overcome.

The writing is quite good, even though spare; most of the settings are relentlessly ordinary, and Mr. Dyte does not try to load them down with special characteristics when they are, in truth, generic rooms in a house. This is not to say he shirks his writing duty, of course, merely that the descriptions of rooms and events are not what makes the game compelling. That said, though, the "bear's eye" view of the house is fairly consistent and well done--take this example, for instance, part of a room description: 

Along one wall stands a high bench, featuring a sink full of dirty dishes, 
next to which you can see a telephone and an answering machine, if you step 
back and crane your neck a little.
The player is virtually never allowed to forget he is inhabiting a teddy bear's body, one of the best things about this game: Mr. Dyte evidently didn't simply throw together some puzzles and graft a funny plot on, and he clearly took some time making the game environment and gameplay appropriate to the game. As a result, the cute and funny factor is considerable, which makes the game appealing in its own right even without good puzzles. When you climb down from something, for example, you get "You tumble down, but being a soft bear, that's ok." Better still, in response to JUMP: "Full marks for cute and furry, but none for achievement." Though not everything in the game really fits the mode--how does this teddy bear manage to carry so many items?--the sacrifices are generally in the name of facilitating gameplay and as such are wise choices. (For example. a teddy bear's paws aren't probably up for much in the way of manipulation--but Mr. Dyte fortunately didn't confine the player's actions to things like pushing or pulling. That would go beyond realism into annoyance.)

The puzzles themselves are well constructed and not too hard, on the whole, and some of them even offer multiple solutions--though one of them, in the bathroom, requires rather exact syntax (and some luck in stumbling on the puzzle in the first place, unless I missed something). There is a hint system included, Invisiclue-style, which provides help for any problem, so difficulty certainly isn't a problem, and most of the puzzles are logical. The one event that isn't particularly logical is funny enough to make it worthwhile (and is also a veiled reference to Sorcerer, better still). The only problem is that the first real puzzle to be solved requires some real exploration, so things can bog down a bit while you try to figure that out--though, after that, things move along more quickly. This problem might be alleviated with perhaps a hint or two as to the location of a certain object required to solve the first puzzle--as it is, you discover it, but not because you were looking for it as such. The other main problem is that there is a side plot that separates out from the main plot after a certain point--and though it is fairly obvious that you need to solve the relevant puzzles, it isn't clear why until the very end of the game (and the reasons are rather thin, I think, as justification for having the side plot). I did enjoy the second plot, of course, quite a bit, but it might have helped to have the reasoning for pursuing the puzzles better incorporated into the story.

One of the perks for the seasoned IF player is the wealth of IF references; this one rivals Sins Against Mimesis for sheer IF knowledge. The author claims 32 references to other games, and while I certainly didn't find that many, I can believe that they're in there. (One puzzle even involves finding a "z-chip" that allows you to play interactive fiction.) Excursions into Dungeon, Curses and Adventureland are among the game's highlights--my favorite moment in the entire game was luring Holly into Adventureland--and the IF-full environment and barrage of self-reference (the author is present, though asleep in bed the entire time) increase the enjoyability and replayability factors. Along with finding the IF references, there are many funny things to do, quite a few deriving from the limits of your character; the "fun stuff" section is ample, much larger than that of most games, and affords a wealth of alternatives.

Bear's Night Out doesn't do much wrong, in short, and what it does do wrong is easily balanced by what it does right. With consistently funny writing, this is one of the best of this year's competition: it's a good idea, well implemented.