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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it's Dark Outside
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:There is no autosave. Instead, you'll need to manually save your game. This can be done by pressing 'S' to bring up the save game menu. Later, you can load a previously saved game by pressing 'L'. Time needed per session:Games like this are best played at a slow and steady pace, so plan on playing for at least twenty minutes.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians This game was intended to be played by young children, so no offensive material was included. Even the villain is defeated without a fight. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pajama_sam_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pajama_sam_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/pajama_sam_2.jpg)
Game Overview
It's time for Sam to go to bed, and tonight will be the first night he'll be sleeping without a light on. Like most children his age, the idea of being alone in the dark is scary, and although he tries to appear brave while talking with his mom, the guise drops shortly after she leaves.
Deciding that he needs to face his fear, Sam decides to imitate his favorite comic book superhero, Pajama Man. In the comics, Pajama Man defeats the evil Darkness using the Illuminator Mark V (a super-powered flashlight) and his trusty Portable Bad Guy Containment Unit. Sam has neither of these, but makes up for it by using his regular flashlight and signature edition Pajama Man lunchbox. From there, it's off to the strange Land of Darkness.
Gameplay-wise, this is a typical point and click adventure. In order to interact with something, all you need to do is click on it. Finding things to click on is also easy to do, as your cursor changes when it's over something of interest. For example, if you move the cursor over a doorway, it will change to an arrow showing you can move Sam in that direction.
Most of the time, clicking on an object will trigger a short animation. These are mostly for your own entertainment, as they don't have an impact on the story and usually go unnoticed by our hero. However, if you find something interesting, a longer animation will play as Sam interacts with it.
Additionally, Sam can carry around many different objects. His inventory, like the rest of the game's interface, is hidden from view until you move the cursor near the bottom of the screen. Just pick the item you want and where to use it, and Sam will do the rest.
This game is the first title in the Pajama Sam series, and I'd label it a successful start. It's good clean fun, even if the graphics are a little dated. Since this game is clearly aimed at a younger audience, older gamers might be hesitant to play it, but I'd still stay it's worth the time.
Deciding that he needs to face his fear, Sam decides to imitate his favorite comic book superhero, Pajama Man. In the comics, Pajama Man defeats the evil Darkness using the Illuminator Mark V (a super-powered flashlight) and his trusty Portable Bad Guy Containment Unit. Sam has neither of these, but makes up for it by using his regular flashlight and signature edition Pajama Man lunchbox. From there, it's off to the strange Land of Darkness.
Gameplay-wise, this is a typical point and click adventure. In order to interact with something, all you need to do is click on it. Finding things to click on is also easy to do, as your cursor changes when it's over something of interest. For example, if you move the cursor over a doorway, it will change to an arrow showing you can move Sam in that direction.
Most of the time, clicking on an object will trigger a short animation. These are mostly for your own entertainment, as they don't have an impact on the story and usually go unnoticed by our hero. However, if you find something interesting, a longer animation will play as Sam interacts with it.
Additionally, Sam can carry around many different objects. His inventory, like the rest of the game's interface, is hidden from view until you move the cursor near the bottom of the screen. Just pick the item you want and where to use it, and Sam will do the rest.
This game is the first title in the Pajama Sam series, and I'd label it a successful start. It's good clean fun, even if the graphics are a little dated. Since this game is clearly aimed at a younger audience, older gamers might be hesitant to play it, but I'd still stay it's worth the time.
Points of Interest
Imaginative and fun
The Land of Darkness is filled with stuff to see and people to meet. Some of the crazy things you'll encounter include rocks that jump on their own, dancing furniture, doors that run a trivia show, trees that enforce customs regulations, a boat that's afraid of water, and a wishing well that wishes he was doing something else.
Hidden collectibles
Before he went to bed, Sam's mother told him to pick up his socks. These have somehow found their way into the Land of Darkness, where they've been scattered around. Clicking on them transports them to a handy laundry basket for safe keeping, and there are a total of 20 socks hidden throughout the game. While it doesn't impact the game's ending, collecting them all can be fun extra challenge.
Very replayable
Most games in this genre have everything appear in a preplanned spot. This means that every time you play the game, there's nothing new to see. Pajama Sam changes this formula by randomly selecting one of several locations when it hides the key items. Each of these locations is blocked by a different set of puzzles, so if you play it again later you might have to take a different path through the game. The locations of the socks are randomized too, so you can't just memorize where everything is!
Many, many jokes
There's a lot of silly stuff going on in this game. Some of the animations that play when you click on an object are good examples, but there are plenty of better examples from the game's dialogue. Perhaps the best example is what happens if you ask Otto (the boat) about geysers.
Mild "educational" content
As mentioned above, there's a pair of doors that run a trivia game show. In order to pass through the doors, Sam must answer four questions correctly. The last question is always about the Land of Darkness, which checks that the player has been paying attention to the background while playing the game. The other categories are real world trivia, such as "Who painted the Mona Lisa?"
Young children might be comforted by the story
Sam's fear of the dark is an extremely common one among young children, and seeing how Pajama Sam deals with his fears in the game may comfort them with their own fears about the dark.
Sam has to interact with things to know about them
This is something of a petty complaint, but it's still worth mentioning. Sam only knows about the things he's interacted with. For example, there's a puzzle where he needs to know what time it is in order to proceed. Although there's a clock that's visible to the player, you need to have Sam explicitly check the clock before you can continue.
Hidden controls
Back when this game came out (over 20 years ago), computer games came with printed manuals instead of in-game tutorials or help menus. Thus, the player might not know how to do things like save the game, load a previously saved game or skip animations. These are, in order: press 'S' to save the game, 'L' to load a game, and you can skip animations by pressing ESC.
Concerns and Issues
Some creatures want to be eaten
In the kitchen, there's a pot on the stove. Inside it is a chicken that happily sings about how it's going to become a delicious dinner. There's just something awkward about that. Equally creepy is how the carrots want to be part of the main course rather than "regulated" to the salads.
An unintentionally scary surprise
Otto is a wooden boat who is under the impression that he'll sink if he goes in the water. Sam needs to convince him otherwise, and to do this he places a wooden board in a nearby pool. Since it floats, Otto musters up the courage to try floating himself, and ends up loving his ability to float.
The scary part is that if you come back to the area later on, the board is gone without anyone having removed it. This reportedly scared a lot of people when they were little, as they thought the board had ended up sinking -- which means that Otto will also eventually sink and drown!
The scary part is that if you come back to the area later on, the board is gone without anyone having removed it. This reportedly scared a lot of people when they were little, as they thought the board had ended up sinking -- which means that Otto will also eventually sink and drown!