Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Majesco
Rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Here’s a list of some things I’ve never done: worn a cool watch, eaten a raw peach, done a bad Ice T impression, smiled on Christmas Day, gone a day without quoting The Big Lebowski, eaten glass, or gone camping. One of these is relevant, and I secretly wish it were eating glass. Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures has hit the streets, and camping fans, I’m sure, have been filling their rugged newsletters and message boards with buzzing anticipation. So what kind of game can they expect: a crisp autumn hike in the Colorado mountains, or eating glass?

Camping Mama tells the story of Mama and Papa’s camping trip to a secluded island. Mercifully, they’ve chosen to bring along their children, Ichigo and Ringo, one of which the player controls. In my case, Ringo explored several of the island’s 6 zones, enjoying a classic camping adventure in the process.

Levels involve exploring an open area on the island, usually to accomplish a task set by Mama or Papa. Papa might ask you to collect four fish, or Mama might ask you to find her in the forest. Along the way are animals, which deal damage to your character should they come into contact with you. Opening chests collects medals (which I never found a specific use for) or props with which to decorate your campsite. While fulfilling the tasks set by your parents, interacting with objects in the environment starts mini-games, which exclusively use the touch screen.

Exploring areas composes a majority of the game, and while this component made a decent first impression, it didn’t take long for tedium to set in. Enemies follow very explicit patterns, so it’s not as if there’s a lot of really intense puzzle solving to tackle, and levels are bright and colorful, but the lack of any bold artistic style turns colorful into bland after a few hours. As for the minigames, they follow the same general pattern as the exploration. I was initially pretty impressed, thinking that they generally put the touch screen to pretty good use. After about an hour though, I was already replaying minigames, some of which seemed ripped directly out of previous Cooking Mama titles. I may not have been camping, but I don’t know that you dice mangoes or shave coconuts on a typical camping trip. For as out of place as that may seem, Camping Mama implements several more hilariously out of place minigames where I was asked to rid the grass of snakes (Papa knows not to mess around with snakes) by straight up getting rough on them with a hammer, and was asked multiple times to throw flower crowns on the heads of wild animals. You know, like you might during your average weekend outing.

For as mediocre as the game is, I feel like my complaints aren’t especially topical. When it comes right down to it, Majesco never intended for my demographic (snarky twenty somethings) to play this game, because it’s pretty clearly intended for children. And to that end, Camping Mama is pretty successful. Doing poorly on a minigame almost never equals failure. I lost a race, but still received a gold medal on the challenge, with additional support from Mama. There’s very little chance for children, however young, to get frustrated or stuck on a level, which can be devastating for children and parents alike. Furthermore, I found it pretty easy to play minigames without reading the instructions, another plus for young players. Mama and Papa also have some spoken lines, though they’re delivered with accents outrageous enough to make Tommy Wiseau blush.

Chances are Camping Mama isn’t for you, but that’s alright. If you’re a parent or uncle or grandparent or anyone in need of a good game for children, there are far worse choices. Camping Mama is built specifically to meet its audience’s limitations without dumbing itself down or succumbing to silliness, and let’s face it, kids won’t find it egregious if they play the same minigame a couple of times.

Our Score:

Our Recommendation: