"Baby Storm" on the Switch: daycare chaos in video game form
Squeaky colorful are the levels designed. Small symbols show what the baby wants.
Eat. The video game "Baby Storm" takes you into the stressful daily routine of a daycare center. But it is better not to face the skill test alone.
Feeding, playing ball, singing together, changing diapers and much more: the daily routine of daycare teachers is as varied as it is stressful. A small, of course not quite so true to reality insight into the daily routine of nurseries now gives the video game "Baby Storm" on the Nintendo Switch.
Known for cute, but also completely over-the-top graphics, Polish developer studio Forever Entertainment. The creative department remains true to the principle of "Baby Storm. Because seriously, what parent would send their child to daycare dressed only in a diaper?? And that’s not the only detail that first causes astonishment in the course of the game, but later mainly amusement.
Reflexes are everything in "Baby Storm
But first things first: "Baby Storm" is a video game from the low-price range (see info box). So it’s not surprising that there is unfortunately only one game mode. The principle is always the same and is reminiscent of the popular cooking party game "Overcooked", where dishes must be prepared as quickly as possible on demand.
in to four players control the caregiver for five minutes through a room in which a varying number of small babies do what babies do: romp around, whine and make requests. Wishes, from stuffed animals to building blocks, from diaper changes to ball games, are displayed on the screen in the form of small icons.
Simple controls
Then you have to react quickly: The required things are scattered in all conceivable areas and corners of the respective room, the babies usually give you only a few seconds – otherwise there is loud screaming, crying and the score account shrinks. On the other hand, those who satisfy early childhood needs quickly collect important scores and thus unlock more and more rooms and accessories for their own character.
The whole thing works with simple three-button controls. Nevertheless, a tutorial mode would have been helpful. Those who start "Baby Storm" are thrown in at the deep end and have to work their way into the gameplay themselves.
28 individually designed levels
In total, there are three large worlds with 28 different rooms. These are designed age-appropriate squeaky-colorful and contain a few peculiarities, which partly have a proper influence on the gameplay. In some rooms, ramps and slides reminiscent of skate parks accelerate the way from A to B, in others a ball pool slows it down. From the beginning an important helper is the cleaning robot. For some undefinable reason, used and just replaced diapers are basically thrown around the room by the babies and left behind – I wonder what the reason for that could be? – brown spots on the floor. If you don’t clean it up within the time limit, you get a point deduction.
Hakelige control frustrates
And if you already think this is curious, the game surprises you once again from the second world onwards: here, for example, the game character has a catapult at his disposal, which he can use to hurl the desired objects into the hands of the babies – well, if only that really ever existed . Also not quite in line with reality: If two babies fight over a toy, it only takes the samba rattles lying around to stop the noise.
As a single player "Baby Storm" will still confuse you quickly. The fact that many items are often right next to each other and you constantly find you’ve grabbed the wrong item after pressing the A-button to pick it up is hugely frustrating. However, if you gather with friends in front of the console, the baby care with two to four educators provides entertaining fun instead of being overstraining. Division of labor means relief. At least in this respect, "Baby Storm" reflects reality.
>>> INFO: "Baby Storm
"Baby Storm" from Forever Entertainment is exclusively for Nintendo Switch appeared. The game is available for download in the Nintendo eShop. Price: €19.99.
The USK has "Baby Storm without age restriction released.