The Google homepage is something that everyone has been on, not once or twice. Many times. But it’s one of those things we don’t pay much attention to. It’s pretty easy to ignore it. It’s just a homepage, but one of the things that makes it so special to me are the little games or slideshows they have. Every day, Google has a new page on the home screen that will lead you to something special, whether it’d be a tribute to a famous man or woman, or just something fun. Most of the time, I never paid attention to them, but today (July 23, 2021), I found a cool game on the homepage. Not a slideshow or a tribute like Google typically does, but an actual video game. It’s a very simple game that anyone can play, called Doodle Champion Island Games (DCIG). A calico cat named Lucky is trying to defeat the 7 champions across an island (we never get the name of it) and collect the scrolls. That’s it. It may seem boring, but it’s actually really cool. I’ll tell you why. First, I love the art style. It has a Pac-Man, 16-bit style of gameplay similar to the old 1980’s arcade games, with actual hand drawn animated cutscenes that look super cute! These are not the type of games I typically play, but this one is so colorful and nice to look at; it’s breathtaking. It’s not just looks though. The actual gameplay is very diverse. The 7 champions you have to defeat all have their own mini-games. I’ll list them: 1. You have to hit the arrows at the correct time in a rhythm game. 2. You have to play rugby while enemies try to catch you. To win, you must pass the ball to your teammates quickly before any of your opponents touch you! 3. You have to play table tennis with one of the champions and score a certain amount of points to win. 4. You have to use a bow and arrow to hit targets. However, the enemy champion will also try hitting the targets. Hit the most targets and collect the most points to win. 5. You have to land different trick shots on a skateboard, which will give you points. Complete the required amount of points to win. 6. You have to climb a mountain while rocks and other terrain are hitting you down. Head up to the top before the timer runs out to win! 7. You have to complete a marathon. Win first place to progress onward. These are the games in DCIG, and while they may sound easy, they’re actually quite hard! Each requires some different type of skill to defeat them, and it all depends on you. I beat the table tennis one with ease, but I’ve seen people struggle with it like crazy! That’s not the only thing though. There are also side quests to complete like helping certain animals find their lost possessions. All of this is a tribute to the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games (which are going on till August 8th), and I’m really impressed by the people who worked on this. They could have just made a slideshow talking about how the Summer Olympic Games got started, but they made an actual game that must have taken them hours! That’s crazy, and I applaud the team (a Japanese animation studio called Studio 4C) who worked on it. Not just because it’s fun, but because it actually shows how you can tell stories through video games. I’ve seen many people say that video games are “bad” and teach you nothing! I whole heartedly disagree. There are so many games out there that have intricate and interesting stories that can challenge you in multiple different ways, either by exercising your reflexes or critical thinking. DCIG proves this really well, and I’m glad people are finally realizing how video games are actually just as imaginative and exciting as books. Yes, games may not be educational—and I’m not saying to play video games 24 hours a day, but I feel they shouldn’t be completely ignored either. DCIG was a wonderful, unexpected find during my daily Google browsing. I expected something boring, but I got something great instead. It’s not long (I beat it in about 45 minutes), but it is still as fun as other games I’ve played that last hundreds of hours. For a Google game developed by a small team of people, this is insane! DCIG is a perfect tribute to the 2020/2021 Summer Olympic Games, and I can’t wait to see what the Studio 4C team will do next.
review
The Lost Girl, Reviewed by Pragnya, 12
The Lost Girl is the kind of book you’d want to write but thought you wouldn’t do well enough. Luckily, we have Anne Ursu who skilfully spins us a thoughtful, emotion-provoking yet engaging tale. The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu is a weirdly beautiful Magical Realism novel about Iris and Lark Maguire, twins who are identical but not alike, with completely different personalities, sort of like relatable alter egos. Lark is the dreamy, imaginable, shy character and Iris, the solid, sensible one. Both of them have been inseparable and thought they would always be, until the day they walk home to find themselves in different classrooms. At first, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but as you delve deeper into the book, you seem to understand their past, (which was excellently blended into the plotline), and how difficult it was for them to cope with their change. The twins seemed to be separated more that year, with Lark taking art classes and Iris joining Camp Awesome, an all-girl after school activity group which Iris has some trouble fitting into, which I can totally sympathise with. Then there is the “magical” part of the story which is Treasure Hunters, an all-around mysterious antique shop, with its mysterious signs, and its owner Mr. George Green, who holds much more than what meets the eye. Although I personally love the build-up of the story, I feel some backstory chapters may require some careful reading, as this book is like a puzzle, where you have to place everything correctly to get the picture, which, here is the marvellous, insightful world of Iris and Lark Maguire. That being said, I constantly admire the author’s ability to maintain just the right balance between the past and the present, and the smooth changing of scenes, which kept myself itching to just skip to the end of the book. However, the thing which I find most interesting and something which isn’t found in most books is the fact that flipping to the end, just to find out what happens next doesn’t work out. Every single word on every single page seemed to have a role, either towards the character growth, or towards the future, even to the next page. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, simply because it has something appealing to all kinds of people. Its connection with traditional fairy tales, relatable scenes, and some incredibly thoughtful statements like “Don’t let your sister get so stuck inside her head that she can’t get out” which Iris’s mother tells her make this book something you can’t take your hands off of the second you start reading it! The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu. Walden Pond Press, 2020. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Enna Burning, Reviewed by Julia, 13
Enna Burning is the second book in the enchanting series The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale. In the first book, The Goose Girl, the main character is Ani, and Enna is one of Ani’s friends. I was excited to see Enna in the spotlight this time and wondered where her story would take her. I was not disappointed! I thought it was utterly fantastic and highly recommended. I was captivated with Enna’s story, and ended up loving it. In the very beginning, Enna’s older brother discovers how to make fire through drawing on heat in the air and making it into flame. He is determined to aid their home kingdom, Bayern, in the upcoming war against a neighboring kingdom, Tira. Enna is intrigued to learn this power too, but is hesitant because of the danger it will cause. She realizes that if she is not careful fire will consume her, slowly burning her from the inside out. I loved reading Enna’s internal battle as she tries to figure out the right choice. It was one of the many things about this book that was spectacularly done. Anyone who has ever struggled with a difficult decision will be able to relate to her. I certainly did. Enna ultimately decides that learning fire power is best for her kingdom despite the risks. She can burn a path to victory… as long as she keeps the overwhelming flames inside her at bay. I was gripped by this time, both worried and excited for Enna. I expected her to choose this path, but all the same I was worried where it would lead her. Would she manage to win the war and control her power at the same time? Or will the fire kill her? After this, the real adventure begins. The book kept me entertained with many twists. I felt a range of emotions reading— I was scared, thrilled, relieved, intrigued, and sometimes downright disturbed by what Enna’s power could do. Enna was an interesting and complicated character. Sometimes she was very likable, and sometimes she did things she knew were horrible and wrong. I often wanted to warn her she was making the wrong choice, or yell at her for what she’d done. Still I couldn’t help rooting for her throughout the whole book, and longed for a happy ending. I was very intrigued by Enna’s fire power, and I thought the author, Shannon Hale, did an amazing job writing it. She really captured the complexity of fire, a thing brings life but it also brings death. It is beautiful yet terrible, all consuming and dangerous. In this world, fire power is similarly complicated. I could understand all of Enna’s decisions, even if I didn’t like them, because I understood the influence the fire had over her. Enna’s longing to set things aflame steadily increases over the course of the story, and it’s written wonderfully. In fact, I thought the writing in general was amazing. It was lyrical and almost poetic, and it flowed very nicely. It provided beautiful descriptions not only of Enna’s fire making ability, but of everything. The series is set in an enchanting world filled with magic and excitement, with a medieval feel. It’s brought to life vividly through lush descriptions. This world is divided into many kingdoms including Yasid, Kildenree, Tira and Kel, but it centers around Bayern. Overall, I highly recommended Enna Burning as a thrilling fantasy book, and the entire series too. Of course, you should read the first book before this one. It’s called The Goose Girl and is also a great story. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, 2017. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
