A Quiet Weekend in Capri

Brief Description of A Quiet Weekend in Capri

You decide as a tourist to have a quiet little holiday in Capri. On the way to your hotel, something strange happens. Now the locals recognise you as a local resident. They request you to run errands for them and tell you about various features of the island and its history.

The game uses photographs from Capri and many of them. There is also original music (which doesn't play often enough!), sounds recorded locally for the background (church bells, birds, dogs, the ocean, etc.). Everything and everyone is Italian, but don't panic, the game has subtitles and translations of all the conversations or signs for those who do speak English but not Italian.

Game play and hints

Mouse driven game with this tool bar always available along the bottom. The icons I happened to get in this screen shot are; the Notebook which holds your conversations, the Paths which highlights hot spots on your screen, the toolkit which includes the important save and load functions, the globe which contains your map, arrows for turning around (not shown) or going back, your inventory is in the bag and finally the camera records what scene you are looking at. The last is particularly important for the contest related to the game.

Soon after you arrive, you'll pick up a map. This map is your best friend. Using the map means that you can be certain that you explore everywhere. It shows your current location and even shows you where you encountered other people on your travels. If you open your notebook, it will show you the conversations you've had at those locations. The map can be called up at any time from the U're icon at the bottom of your screen.

The game has a little signpost icon at the bottom. Click that to see the hot spots on the screen. I love this feature, you can be certain you've noticed everything you need to! In the instructions, it says leaving this feature on is for amateurs. I recommend that you do leave it on and I won't tell a soul you did it!

Gripes about A Quiet Weekend in Capri

There are three save game spots and all you get are the numbers 1 to 3. This makes it impossible to distinguish which saved game is your most recent. If you don't remember which you last used, you'll have to try each in turn until you find the correct one.

The icons at the bottom of the screen should look a bit more professional. They rather look like a programmer did them and there was no clean up by a professional artist.

The sound track is gorgeous and just doesn't last long enough! I'll have to seriously consider buying their music CD.

Conclusion for A Quiet Weekend in Capri

If you are looking for fast paced thrills and excitement, then this is not your game. This is a lovely, slow paced game of careful exploration. An invitation, if you will, to come and fall in love with Capri. You need to look in every corner, talk to every person, pick up every item.

While I haven't completed the game, what I've seen is suitable for any age. It's overall very satisfying to explore find items or someone new to talk to. No tiny hotspots, no critical timing, just careful observation and piecing together some clues to make a coherent whole. In all, this is a highly recommended game for adventure lovers.

If you get exhausted from the game, why not just explore Capri in a virtual sightseeing tour? The tour guide will tell you about the significance of a number of areas on the island. It's nice that the CD contains this as well as the game.

Some final thoughts on the game.

This is a great way to take a virtual holiday in Italy. The photography shows some true highlights on Capri, and you'll really get a feel for the island and the town. The CD contains a sightseeing portion as well as the adventure game, so anyone can at least have a tour of the island. I'd love to extend this by taking a trip to Capri in the near future, but at least this way my feet aren't sore from all the walking!

The title of this game is incorrect. I predict that you'll spend much more than one quiet weekend in Capri. It's difficult sometimes to concentrate on what you have recently been asked to do because the temptation to just wander the island and look at the views is very strong.