Game Classification

The Fairy Queen must reunite earth, air, water and fire, the four basic elements, back to the elemental altar to bring back balance to the world.

Avalon is a real-time management game sharing some gameplay mechanics with the Virtual Villagers games. As the Fairy Queen, the objective is to make a colony of fairies thrive and evolve by sending them to exploit the resources and hidden powers of the forest. The actions are in real time, and when exiting the game the current status is saved. When loading it later the colony situation is recalculated to account for the time passed, as if the little fairies kept working while the game was off.

All levels show a secluded section of the forest, that can be panned horizontally to show all the scattered flowers, bushes and special items laying around on the scenery. The fairies can be commanded directly by clicking on them and a waypoint or scene item. There are three main resources that have to be collected by them: food, pollen and potion ingredients. The food supply is continuously consumed by the fairies, and they stop working when there's nothing left. The pollen is used to create new fairies at the reproduction garden, with one hundred units necessary to produce a new one. Magical ingredients are gathered to mix helpful potions. Some precious items occasionally appear on the screen for brief moments, and can only be collected by the Fairy Queen herself before vanishing. When the Fairy Queen collects one of the elemental items, a new area is open to exploration.

Young and untrained fairies are yellow, but after performing the same action for a long period they change color and become specialists in one of three activities. Red fairies are gatherers, collecting resources fast and cleaning or removing objects. Green fairies are wizards, capable of casting spells on animals and mysterious objects. Blue fairies are enchanters, changing the natural world with their powers. The Fairy Queen is an unique unit, being a specialist on all activities.

Four mini-games are available to increase production and accelerate progress. In the potion laboratory game, the goal is to collect most of the falling ingredients by controlling an open flower moving sideways at the bottom of the screen. The ingredients fall from the top as balls of a pachinko machine, bouncing around on mushrooms before reaching the bottom. Each hit on a toadstool increases the richness of the ingredient, and pressing the mouse button blows them upwards for extra bumps on the mushrooms.

In the pollination game, the cursor is replaced with a rotating fan, and the player has use it to direct the floating pollen to blooming flowers, guiding them towards their center. The fan can be turned on and off by pressing the mouse button. In the gatherer training game, a series of pipes open and close following the rhythm of the music. The player has to deposit resources into the open pipes, using the tune beat as a clue. In the choir lessons game, a crystal cluster at the bottom of the screen shots blue light beams upwards, and the player has to move a flower hoop on a semi-circle arcing over it, trying to pass the light through the middle. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : PC (Windows)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/avalon_/