Four Seasons Journey is an endless runner game that calls upon you to guide a raccoon over a series of hills. Available for both Windows 10 PC and Mobile, you travel across the four seasons to collect berries as you bounce around the hills and avoid a collection of sleeping animals that include bears, wild hogs and porcupines.
The game has decent graphics that colorfully illustrate the adventure and the gaming concept can be addictive. While the game reminds me of Rainbow Rapture and Penguin, Four Seasons Journey lacks the zip similar games possess. After spending time with the Windows Mobile version of the game, Four Seasons Journey has potential, it just needs a little polishing.
Four Seasons Journey opens up with a very simple primary menu that has options to jump into game play, view upgrade options and access to the game's settings. Gaming settings are brief with options to replay the tutorial, turn on/off an early warning system (helps you avoid dangers), adjust the graphics quality and mute the sound.
When you first jump into gameplay, Four Seasons Journey will walk you through a brief tutorial that covers gaming controls and the layout of the gaming screen. Your raccoon will be sliding across the bottom of the screen on its belly and you will need to use the gaming controls to give the raccoon speed so he can jump the various hills in his way.
Tapping the left side of the screen will have the raccoon dive on the downslopes and releasing the screen will allow him to soar high as he climbs the hills. This will test your skills at timing and the more momentum the raccoon carries into a downslope, the higher he will fly.
For those playing Four Seasons Journey from a PC without a touchscreen, there are keyboard controls to guide your raccoon by.
In addition to the slopes in the foreground, you also will have a much hillier set of slopes in the background. If you can get your raccoon to fly high enough, you can tap/hold the right side of the screen to send the raccoon to the background slopes.
Again, the goal is to safely guide your raccoon as far as possible and to help you out there are apples, berries and glow worms that can be collected. If the raccoon dives too steep and bumps his nose, he'll lose energy. If he slams into a sleeping animal, he'll lose energy. You can replenish energy by collecting apples and if you run out of energy the game ends.
You can use the berries to restart the game, a mulligan of sorts, and the glow worms help your raccoon see the landscape ahead during the night sequences the game will offer. If you are running low on berries, you can always pick more up through the upgrade option from the main menu via in-app purchase.
The Game Needs a Little More Zip
After playing the Windows Mobile version of Four Seasons Journey over the past few days, it comes across a Windows game full of potential but just not quite there yet.
The endless flyer concept has been successful with other gaming titles and that style of gaming can be a great way to pass the time with. Unfortunately, gameplay with Four Seasons Journey seemed a bit sluggish. The slopes in the foreground are way too gentle and offer you very little opportunity to soar high enough to reach the slopes in the background.
If you do get to the background hills, then you can get your raccoon to hit the stratosphere and fly high. If you get stuck in the foreground, the game feels like you are driving uphill in a car that isn't running on all cylinders.
Four Seasons Journey is a free, ad-supported game that is available for both Windows 10 PC and Mobile. Trying the game out will not break the bank, but it would be a lot more enjoyable if the developer would increase the size of the hills and give the game a little more zip.
Download Four Seasons Journey for Windows 10 PC and Mobile
