BONKers!
by Keara22HI, HSM team writer
Why did I buy this thing?
Admit it: you’ve said that probably more than a few times about purchases made in the real world that – within minutes of getting said item home – have made you feel instant buyer’s remorse. Fortunately in the real world, you can return most items.
Don’t get me wrong; the Bonk personal space is gorgeously rendered; on the surface, with its lush greenery and waterfall (that you can actually enjoy), as well as its seemingly deliberate glitch-friendly nooks and crannies, you could easily believe that this is the personal space nonpareil. A dream space made reality.
And then you try and decorate the place. So much for that dream space title.
Or is all hope completely lost? Have we all become so accepting of the passive experiences nearly all the other personal spaces in Home offer that we have forgotten to recognize a puzzle game when it’s staring us in the face? We’ve all clamored on the Sony forums for more interactivity in our personal spaces for so long; is it that hard to believe that a developer actually – and I know this is going to sound like a shock to some of you – listened?
After I first entered this new personal space. I definitely was discouraged. No way to park lawn furniture all over that green grass (and someone tell me why there are no pink plastic flamingos or garden gnomes for sale as lawn ornaments, huh? No developers with a sense of whimsy out there?).
Same with the first floor of the hut. Nothing there but bare dirt, some sawed off log seats and a burnt-out fire pit. Well, if you can figure out the button mashing, you can make a big fire. And there’s a game going on the tv screen, but I cannot figure out how to play it. Honestly, I could have bought a latte with that money.
Then, up to the second floor and bingo – trot out the good furniture and get creative. Now I get to turn this into something that Architectural Digest will want for a front cover. I run to the Mall to buy the Bonk furniture. Nopers, nothing but a stone table, stone chair, and a torch.
Now I am getting mad. How am I going to fill up the first level of that hut with nothing but that! Then, to really make it infuriating, when I try to place that stuff from the Mall into the first level, it won’t go!
Feeling as if I just pointlessly blew away my coffee money, I sit outside on the tree stump to think this through. There must be something I missed, I think to myself.
So I jump off the cliff into the water to cool off, and suddenly, I get a message that something is floating in the river, and if I find the bubbles, I can retrieve it. Now we’re talking.
I load the stone sofa (my reward for finding the bubbles) and head back to the first level of the hut. This is where you need some Granny Advice™: to be able to place the new item, do NOT go to “Place Furniture” from your menu. Nopers. Walk over to the poster on the wall of the hut and you get “Information.” Now you can use the direction arrows to select furniture and select location.
So I go bugnuts and replace every tree stump in there with stone sofas. And I button mash like a pre-teen on a Monster Energy Drink binge until I get that fire pit at full blaze. Things are picking up nicely.
Next it’s back to the water to see what else pops up. But when I jump off the cliff this time, I land on a level that has a big red flower on it. A really ugly red flower that moves. So I decide to stomp on it. Jump on top of the flower and, “Hey, Mom, look at me, I’m flying!”
Three dozen bounces later, I discover I can navigate the direction when I bounce (hey, I’m an old woman; sometimes I don’t pick up on these things as fast as you kids do). Eventually, I land in the water again and — no more gifts today. Come back tomorrow and try again.
Well, I’m not going to waste a day in that water without exploring a little. Look at that waterfall – lets give that a shot. I try that cute move that NorseGamer taught me: Conversation: Yawn, followed immediately by Celebration: Twirl. So now I am in the waterfall, spinning and grinning, and thinking this wasn’t such a bad deal after all.
Next up, more experimentation with the water – and wow, this place goes on forever. This is huge. And the scenery is probably from some travel brochures of Pago Pago. The place is – as I mentioned in the beginning – drop-dead gorgeous. Change your angle and you are looking at your legs underwater. There are fish swimming by. Try sitting in the water and you can watch the fish – without running out of air.
Also, if you pan the angle around, you can spot where the gift bubble areas are located. Nice – now we have easy-peasy treasure hunting.
The next day, it’s back to the water and look for the “treasure of the day” and this time it is a stone table. Time to go back to the first level of the hut and plunk that table into position. And you know what, this place is starting to look good. Now all I need is for Barney Rubble to show up for a visit.
So the idea hits me – why not post an invitation in the Forum and offer Bonk tours to anyone who wants to see it before buying? So here they come – and, interestingly enough, after a few flower bounces and some waterfall dancing, almost everyone decides they want to buy one, too.
The daily bubble treasures start to add up: a log table, a bone sofa, a bone table, another bouncy flower, and a way to reach a wall decoration!
Here’s the secret: place the new bouncy flower in the bare space next to the entrance to the hut. Now position yourself so you are facing the hut entrance and jump on the bouncy flower.
Now you aim carefully and, after umpteen tries, you manage to reach the top of the roof. And, voila, there’s a wall ornament: a critter skull. Georgia O’Keefe would have loved it. I placed that onto the wall above the stone sofa. Bring on the photographers – it is starting to look good.
The visitors are having a blast vying for the spot on the little platform at the peak of the roof. Tease shows up with a camera and is taking pics of all the scenery. I start experimenting with mid-air fashion shots. Everybody is dancing in the waterfall. The upper level decor is starting to look spectacular, especially with the hot tub in place and the Bonk tiki torches.
So, bottom line: I took me a lot of days to finally gather all the water treasures, place them in the hut, position the additional bouncy flowers for multi-jumps up levels, and finish the upper level decorating. Did I get my money’s worth? Oh, yeah! Am I bored with it now? No. And my friends keep asking for more invites to visit that it will probably take months before this one gets lost in the shuffle.
August 6th, 2011 by keara22hi | 3 comments
Keara is also known in Home as DarthGranny. She is a wicked little old lady with a wild sense of humor.
Great article, Keara! This is one of the great things about personal spaces from the Japan Home (the Loco Roco Island and the Dolphy Space are others). Instead of being asked to buy tons of furniture or other items, you’re given activities which encourage you to return again and again, and in the process win items as a reward for being active.
Very nice article. I was invited to a friends Bonk space and my reaction was “Wow, now you’re talking.” I was really impressed by how much it seemed that someone has been listening to what everyone has wanted in a personal space, even right down to the glitching-like aspects. A fun article to read about a really fun place.
for the lucky owners of sver, they can put furniture outside in bonk very easily!^^