Camp W Reviews

Camp W is a wonderful escape from real life! It’s a wholesome adventure with beautiful art and a humorous, uplifting story. The characters are varied, unique, and have real depth. The whole tone feels very true to my real life summer camp/summer school experiences, which was an unexpected bonus delight. You get to cast spells, solve a mystery, collect merit badges, and you have a talking squirrel as a companion - what more could you want?! :) It's cute, fun, and good value for money. I can't recommend this game enough!

I'm 43, and enjoyed this game enormously! To be honest, I just ended the first playthrough and was somewhat shocked to see the credits already - there'll have to be a bunch of sequels, or else I have to kill a cute little kitten! Such a lovely masterpiece, as all parts of the game work perfectly together ... the art, the writing, the music, the gameplay, the pacing ... sigh <3

My favourite thing about Camp W is the art! The character designs are very fun and charming. I also appreciate the diverse representation. Where it lost me is the story, but I don't think it would be fair for me to give it a bad review as it's definitely meant for a younger crowd. Pick it up for a young one in the family to get them interested in reading an interactive story!

Greetings to all the readers out there. I shall get started straight away then. Pros: + The story: gives vibes of a really old-fashioned fairytale + Exquisite art style (it feels like one watching something like Gravity Falls or The Owl House); + Memorable characters; + Good old-fashioned applicable magic; Cons: - Didn't find any apart from one - it is TOO short.

Camp W is a visual novel with multiple endings (about 6 hours length, if you want to be friends with all people). The vacation is approaching, and a little girl(or boy, depending of your choice) has to study magic with her(his) mother. What she did not expected is that when escaping to have fun, she entered the "Real World". The story is based on camping for kids, in which you can do different activities and befriend several people. Solve the mysteries of Camp W (yes, there is a villain there), meet creatures and have your so dreamed vacation. With beautiful hand-drawn world, this short visual novel is so charming, refreshing, and good for all ages

The game has just become free, so all the more reason to check it out. Charming character design, witty dialogue, and characters I thoroughly enjoyed. My main problem was the ending, more apt to say a lack of one. But the rest of the game was well worth the time I spent with it. I can't explain how much I loved the other campers, they were all so much fun. They even managed to make the rule-focused stick in the mud enjoyable. Favorites were the twins and Sophie!

TL;DR? If you enjoy visual novels and you’re looking for something that’s kind and heartwarming without being too cheesy, this is a pleasant experience that give you a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside when you’re done playing. ********************************************** In Camp W, you play as a young witch--Liliandra or Lysander, depending on your preference--whose (super successful) mother wants to keep at home to study during the summer break, instead of to Witch Summer Camp. Frustrated at the prospect of spending all summer on spells and potions, you wander off into the forest and discover a portal into the Human Realm...that lands you right smack damp in the midst of day one orientation at Camp W! Spend the summer hiding your witch identity from other campers, making friends...and solving some of the mysteries that spring up! Camp W is a visual novel. That means pretty much exactly what it sounds like: that this game will involve lots of reading, but there are some pretty amazing visuals (and really calm and pleasant background sound) to accompany it. Fitting the nostalgic, childhood memory type of vibe, Camp W has a golden book/saturday morning cartoon feel to it that immediately brought a smile to my face. It’s uplifting, and that feeling continues throughout the story. I had a blast reading this out loud with my stream, and I could imagine friends and families reading this together and picking different activities and friends to focus on. Just because the content is fine for all ages does not mean it’s childish. The themes this game presents: friendship, setting out on your own, being yourself: these are themes we can all connect to and need reminders about, even as adults...albeit it can be a bit simple in its’ presentation. The fairly quick playtime-- about 3-4 hours per playthrough--also makes it easy to jump in, finish, and revisit to get the rest of the badges. Each day of camp is broken up into about three activities you get to choose between, and while your choices will affect who you end up becoming closest to (yay new best friends!) the main story is not affected by these choices. After each activity, you get a fancy camp badge that you get to proudly display in your Grimoire along with a fun doodle commemorating the event. For those of you unfamiliar with visual novels, there isn’t too much gameplay in the button mashing/controller sense: you’ll get the badges as a result of the activity you pick, not from scoring a certain number of points. There is a small additional mechanic where you can cast spells in your grimoire by tracing runes with your mouse, but the rest of the game is traditional VN fare: that is, your focus will be on reading. The highlight of this game is getting to know each of the camp attendees and experiencing their playful dialogue. I particularly loved the expressiveness of each character, as well as you could see Lil/Lys (whoever you selected) and their reactions to the action in the story. While this story is positive and wholesome without being saccharine and overdone, the pacing felt a bit uneven and a little segmented. The intro (or what feels like the intro) felt like it took up almost just as much time as the middle and end of the main plot. There were so many questions that the game brought up near the final third, but never had the opportunity to flesh out or address. The game also seemed like it was doing two different things: the main story, which had a more traditional narrative structure, and then there was the friendship sim, which was where the game provided the most interaction. While the friendship component happened in the midst of the main plot, the events were quite separated. I understand why this probably made more sense in the structure of the game, but I did wish there was a bit more interaction between the two. Want more details or to see the game in action? Watch my video review: https://youtu.be/t0ENGeczQLE

Camp W is a thoroughly cute and enjoyable little VN. It's structured like a dating sim, but without any of the creepiness that makes dating sims gross. You turn up at summer camp, you can choose which people to hang out with, at the end you might make a friend. It's totally platonic and much more representative of real-world relationships than most VNs. I guess if you play through multiple times you can uncover a bit more of the lore, but i was happy with one playthrough, which takes about 2 hours. The dialog is light-hearted and sprinkled with silly puns and a few clever jokes for grown-ups. The characters are stereotypes, but not in a way that feels too forced given they are mostly children. I played as an adult and found it charming, but i think children the same age as the characters would enjoy this game too. Wholesome without being cloying. Just great stuff. Definitely worth buying if you are even a little bit into VNs.

Overall I thought Camp W was an incredibly charming and well-thought out game with an interesting plot and nice illustrations. I have already completed 2 entire playthroughs of the game and have gotten both the Sophie and the Bros friendship endings. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to complete a single playthrough if you're a fast reader. After your first play, you can speed up the text you've already seen which will shorten the playtime considerably. PROS: - the art style is hand drawn and pleasing to look at. The whole vibe of the game is that it's very relaxing and the colors of the human realm are very vibrant and happy, which I think captures the mood of summer camp very very well. Other design elements like the glowing foxfire plants were also really, really nicely drawn. - unique character designs. All of the characters were unique and easily distinguishable. The artists made some really good decisions with facial expressions, physical features, etc. For example, Ruby's glowing red face or Wilfred's tears. You can really get a good sense of what each character is like by looking at them. - funny dialogue, especially from Nugget. - badge collecting/spell/memory system allows for replayability for completioninsts (minimum of 3 playthroughs to receive all badges). There is a lot of fast forwarding you have to do while replaying, but I think that overall it's not too bad. - multiple choices in the game, see point above. You get several choices in who you want to befriend in the game. It's fun to watch the story unfold and each character has interesting qualities. You can't go wrong with your choice! - original soundtrack. The music in this game is really pretty and I found it especially relaxing. It fit with the aesthetic of the game and didnt pull me out of the story. CONS [spoilers included] - incomplete storyline elements: we never find out why there is a secret alter in the woods or use any of the items from it again (I think it was from the grandma, but it wasn't very clear to me and it's never brought up again), we never find out how our protagonist got home (all of the known portals home were closed), we never find out why Sophie has a spellbook, we never find out what happens to the masked antagonist, and we never get Mila's (the mom) reaction from Ly/Lil being a powerful witch...in fact, we never hear about Mila after her initial introduction. All of these missing pieces made the game feel a little lacking. - random storyline elements: the inclusion of the moss creature, the masked man, and the "secret agent" reveal felt really, really random and out of place. In the first half of the game, it felt very "slice of life"-esque, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a sort of relatability to Ly/Lil -- lots of people have parents with high expectations that they can never reach. I was excited to see their journey at summer camp to prove mom wrong, but then all these mysterious elements happened. They were not bad ideas, but it felt extremely rushed and if the developers had either made a longer game or cut something I think it would have worked better, in my opinion. - there is no way in game to see past achievements such as badges, memories, or spells collected from other playthroughs. They simply disappear after completion of the game. Again, my overall experience is that the game is lovely and well worth the money and time spent on it. I enjoyed myself with this game and I'm sure many others will too.

[b]A cute Visual Novel in its own style that isn't about romance ? [i]You have my attention[/i]. And it takes place in a magical universe in which you can even cast spells ? [i]Where do I sign[/i] ?[/b] Camp W is a lovely and family friendly Visual Novel that I particularly enjoyed, to which I was attracted in the first place because of the creative, beautiful and colourful hand-drawn artwork, and then by the witchcraft. You play as a teen witch : Lysander, if you want to play as a boy, or Liliandra if you prefer a girl ; you can rename your character in any case at the beginning of the game and the gender doesn't exactly have any impact. The game starts in the Witching Realm at Coventry Middle School, on the last day of the school year. Every witch spends his/her summer vacation at Witch Summer Camp. Well, actually, every witch, except you ; as every year, you get to spend your school break at home, studying and being quizzed by your mother, Mila, who happens to be one of the most famous potion-crafter of the Realm. But everything changes when, wandering in the forest with Nugget, your talking squirrel familiar, you find an old altar. Suddenly a portal opens ; of course, curiosity wins out and you find yourself getting through the portal and ending up in the Human Realm. That's where you find Camp W and your adventure truly begins... https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1453568292 I've never been to a summer camp during my childhood so it doesn't bring good memories back, but I can feel nevertheless the camp spirit and what it can bring to a kid. This one is your character's first camp, so even if you feel like an outsider at the beginning (considering you're also a witch among humans), you quickly fit in, get used to the pranks, make friends and dynamically participate in the camp activities. The game offers a lot of choices, as the selection of the occupations quickly becomes your job. What do you want to do this afternoon ? Gardening, arts and crafts, sports, camp history, or maybe music and dance ? You'll have choices to make not only about the activities, but also in the dialogues and how you want to handle the situations. Also you'll have to be careful with your magic because you can't let the humans find out that witches exist. [b]"I can say with complete confidence that even if you come in peace, mankind never returns the favor."[/b] - [i]Sid[/i] There are several characters with distinct personnalities to discover, but you can't uncover everything in a single playthrough ; for example if you decide to spend as much time as possible with Sophie, you'll learn a lot about her and she'll become your best friend, but you'll also miss a lot of other activities and stories about the other characters. Basically you'll have to replay the game if you want to discover and try other "branches" of the story. The first playthrough is around 3 hours long - of course it depends on how quickly you read. Once you finish the game, there's a handy button that allows you to fast forward the text and that way go directly to the choices and activities you haven't tried yet. As every witch worthy of the name, you always keep close to you not only your familiar, but also your Grimoire, in which you can find the characters you met and the memories you have made with them, your spells and your badges. Again, you'll have to replay the game if you want to unlock everything ; if we take the Sophie example once again, you can unlock up to 6 memories with her, but then miss most of the memories you could have unlocked with someone else. As for the badges, they are rewards to earn by your behavior and choices around the camp ; there are 18 but you can only unlock 6 per playthrough. As you can see, the game has a high replayability. You can finish the game 5 times and still dicover new dialogues and secrets about a character or Camp W ; and of course the possibility to skip the text you have already read so it doesn't ever get boring. There are also several Steam achievements to unlock according to the ending and the memories you get. The icing on the cake would be to have a Grimoire that regroups everything that you have unlocked so far in every playthrough ; maybe that's something that will be added later, who knows. Also there are lots of saving slots, but when you click on "continue" it doesn't load the last save, but the last [i]auto[/i] save ; those are the few things that could be improved. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1454736809 One of the best things of this game is the Witchcraft theme. It's pretty amusing to play as a witch sneaking into the Human Realm, find more about magic, crafting potions, casting spells, etc. I wanted the game to be longer just to learn more about it. During your adventure, you'll be able to cast spells, but only at certain times, in order to help yourself with some situations. The spell system is quite simple and easy to learn : each one has its own pattern and you just have to follow and draw the line with your cursor while your character pronounces the spell. If you fail, you can always try again, so even kids can do it easily. It's a really nice addition to the game. The campers and your character are 12 to 14 years old, so the game really focuses on the story, the differences between the Witching Realm and the Human Realm, also on acceptance and friendship ; there isn't any romance in all of that, that's not that kind of game and they are too young for that anyways. This is one of the reasons why the game is really for all ages ; you just have to know how to read or have someone reading it to you to be able to enjoy it. The experience is probably even better if you're 6 to 15 years old or if you went to summer camps when you were younger, but you can play it at any age in all cases and still have a wonderful time. [b]"You can't let one witch with a broomstick up her butt ruin your whole summer."[/b] - [i]Nugget[/i] As Camp W is before everything else a Visual Novel, my first focus was on the text and the visual. The game is only available in English at the moment, but the writing is excellent : it's indeed well and carefully written, with a lot of humour, twists, suspense, diversity and simplicity. To the great writting adds an amazing hand-drawn artwork full of life and details and a charming and fitting soundtrack with a witchy tone. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1453596208 The game offers 6 endings depending on who became your closest friend and there is in addition one secret ending in which you discover a bit more about the story and the plot, but also raises even more questions. Because, after finishing Camp W, you can't but ask yourself what's going to happen next ! The ending was quite surprising in the sense that you don't expect the game to finish at that moment, after just [spoiler]3 days at Camp W[/spoiler]. It felt a bit abrupt and left too many unanswered questions : [spoiler]who is Sophie's grandmother ? Who is this girl on the locket, is it Gadgy ? Who exactly is this Edward McGrubbkin guy and what prophecy is he talking about ? What about this organization, P.O.T.I.O.N, what do they really want ? And who is Norm, who does he work with and who is the woman in the picture with him ?[/spoiler] So I really hope there will be a sequel to continue this great adventure at Camp W (or even sometimes in the Witching Realm) and get some answers. Overall, Camp W is an almost flawless Visual Novel, innovative, pleasant to read, entertaining, beautiful, funny, that runs smoothly and can be played several times without getting annoying. The game is family friendly and you can see the amount of work behind it - it's the kind of game that is made with the heart. It's totally worth its price in my humble opinion, but you can always wait for a discount if you're planning on playing only one playthrough or two.