Some games do more than just take you to a fantasy world. In fact, Squirrel & Bear: Europe has the goal of teaching children about different cultures and languages in the real world!
Squirrel & Bear: Europe is an adventure platformer that has you playing an eager Squirrel who just wants to explore and find their friends. Along with your helpful friend Bear, your goal is to find an animal (that you can see on a made-up version of Instagra), to explain more about the town to you.
As I was playing a demo of the game at Gamescom, the town we were exploring was Cologne, Germany, where Gamescom takes place. Following Rascal on social media, Bear would regularly update me on what he was posting, which provided hints on where to go. As you explore Cologne, you’ll learn about the food that’s eaten in the area and about different tourist spots. You will also run into creatures that only speak German.
You do not speak German, so you must collect pollen from around the world, through platforming around buildings, to trade for translations from the bees. There are various puzzle aspects of the game as well, some of which require you to switch to your Bear friend so that you can lift heavy objects.
Squirrel & Bear: Europe is a pretty easy game – it’s designed for children. Where the game really shines is teaching children culture. Many kids cannot travel yet and do not know much about the world around them. With games like Squirrel & Bear: Europe, their horizons can be expanded from their home, allowing them to understand some differences between different groups of people. The game feels really well made so far, with some wonderful characters to explore with.
Squirrel & Bear: Europe is coming out on PC and the Nintendo Switch soon, but in the meantime, you can find out more information on the developer’s site.