From Shine Studio and Shine studio is the only place you may purchase this game.
Comer is a first person game, in which you wander the world trying to find out more about what happened before and what you should do now. It is a Myst-style game; if you do not like Myst, you should stop reading this review. Anyone who dislikes Myst will probably not enjoy this game.
This is a game of exploration, not of action. You are the only resident in the world at the moment, though you will find information about other "Comers" to this world. Some items are only there to mislead or to have fun with. Others you will need to change to make changes to the world around you.
The game features 3-D worlds, a beautiful sound track (available as an audio CD) and some unique puzzles. Look at things carefully and don't make assumptions about the world.
The basic game cursor changes to show you the directions in which you may currently move. Sometimes it changes to a gripping hand when you can do something like turn a crank or grab a handle. Other times, you will be able to move things, but there is no cursor change to give you the hint. You'll just have to learn what things can be moved on your own.
Be careful to look around when you have done something and see if it has an effect somewhere else. Don't keep flipping switches at random, work out if it changed something somewhere else. And watch for colour changes, if something undergoes a permanent colour change, you've just solved a puzzle. You'll soon learn what colours are associated with finished puzzles.
Ensure that each saved game ends with .cmr or Comer won't recognise the file. Also, don't panic when you load your saved game and you start at the beginning of that world. The game does remember which puzzles you have solved, it just prefers to start you in the same location each time.
The booklet that comes with the game even gives hints toward the answers, though you really should save the hints for when you are truly stuck. It's not a long game, most of the puzzles are reasonably simple, once you get the idea of what to do.
Three gripes, of varying importance. The first is that there are a number of times you can interact with something on the screen, but you don't realise that because the cursor doesn't change. The second is no game should assume the average person can play a melody by ear. Notes on how to play it laying around somewhere would be much better. (Thanks to Balmoral software whose walkthrough helped me through this tricky stage.)
The third and very trivial gripe is that music usually changes abruptly as you enter and exit areas of the game. There have been rooms I've been reluctant to leave because I know the lovely tune will be cut off instantly.
If you love the realism of Myst, if you like exploring a virtual world and gradually building up a story, I'd highly recommend this title. The music is stunning, the world is nicely rendered. If you hate roaming around a world with no one to interact with, and no obvious reason to continue, you should have stopped reading this review some time ago.
The game has no tricky timing sequences, no places where you must save, no gore and a family could play this together. However, there are a number of times that it can be tricky to procede, since the cursor does not necessarily change to reflect that you can do something.
Shine Studio is a small operation, you must directly order the game from the web site. However, it is a good first product, and rather amazing for such a small company.