Creatures of Ava - strange creatures

Creatures of Ava is a peaceful, soothing, cozy action/adventure with cute characters about saving alien animals. But is it too cozy...

Polish 11 Bit Studios, to whom we are very grateful for the regular support of Ukraine, is gradually turning into a powerful player in the indie game market. As early as 2014, the studio started publishing games by other developers, choosing extraordinary projects that would fit their own vision of the indie scene - Moonlighter, Children of Morta, South of the Circle, The Invincible, The Thaumaturge, Indika. Creatures of Ava is the third game released by 11 Bit Studios in 2024, created by the Spanish studio Inverge Studios.

This is a story about two environmental researchers who have to save the fauna of the planet Ava from a strange plague, a "wilting" that can destroy all life. Humans have visited Ava before, but were forced to leave the planet. The artistic inhabitants, and there are intelligent aliens here, still remember the humans, but they treat them a little strangely and are not very concerned about the disease that is consuming the planet.

The task of the researchers is to evacuate fauna samples from different regions of Ava, and there are four of them, to the ark ship waiting in orbit. To do this, they need to bring the animals to the teleportation bots, which is not always easy. First you need to heal the animals and gain their trust, and then solve the spatial puzzle and bring them to the teleporter. And to do this, you can't do without the help of the locals.

In terms of gameplay, Creatures of Ava is an action/adventure with elements of role-playing, platforming, metroidvania, music, puzzle, and more. You need to master the new features of a "magic" staff that can cure "wilting", lift objects and animals into the air, slow down time, and more. Sing melodies to animals to lure them, even temporarily inhabit different animals to open new passages or create "shortcuts".

Ava's researchers also have to take a lot of photos - sick and healthy animals, interesting locations, aliens, and hidden objects. In addition, you will be collecting alien plants, crafting medicines, meditating, exploring mysterious ruins, and more. And, of course, communicate with alien inhabitants who don't really understand humans, distort their words and seem to be openly mocking them. Or maybe, on the contrary, it's the people who don't understand the inhabitants of Ava and what's going on here?

There is a combat part in Creatures of Ava, but it's not about destroying aggressive fauna and countering some invaders. The main character, Vic, has to treat animals with a special ray that removes "wilting". The problem is that the sick animals don't really want to be treated and resist by attacking the doctor. So it's a kind of one-way game. Vic tries to keep the healing beam on the animals while dodging their attacks. This combat part is probably the weakest element of Creatures of Ava. There are no special difficulties here, and it is frankly boring to "clean" the animals.

In fact, it seems that the creators of Creatures of Ava have overdone it a bit by making their game as cute and peaceful as possible. Here, on Ava, of course, it is very beautiful, cozy and pleasant, but... very boring. The game lacks a challenge, complex tasks, at least some tension. So you can play Creatures of Ava even with small children, but an adult will not be interested.

In terms of graphics, Creatures of Ava is hardly the most modern game in terms of technology. However, it is very picturesque and pleasant to look at, albeit with a bias towards excessive cartoonishness. The music is also nice, although it seemed to us that the authors stole some of the melodies from our Mavka. In fact, Creatures of Ava really has a lot of "Mavka. The Forest Song", the same Vic and Tabitha are a kind of nymphs of an alien forest.

Creatures of Ava is available on PC and Xbox Series X|S, but more importantly, it's available as part of Game Pass. So if you're not sure if this game is right for you, you can simply try it on Game Pass.

Exploring the planet Ava with your kids can be fun. But keep in mind that unlike its own games, which 11 Bit Studios now necessarily translates into Ukrainian, projects that are only published by Poles do not always have Ukrainian, and this can be a problem when playing with children.