Hasani and the Beanstalk

Developed by a group of 5 college students who later founded Kosar Negar Rayaneh as a company, Hasani and the Beanstalk is one of the very first commercial 3D games made in Iran. The game saw a physical release by Century21 in 2007 after one year of development, although seemingly in limited numbers as the game was not widely available in stores.

As for the game itself, it's an average platformer with a couple issues. The lack of enough experience in video game development, which is to be expected as the devs were college students with no access to worldwide tech and tutorials, clearly shows itself in this game. While the tank controls prove to be mostly fine when it comes to platforming, the gameplay still suffers from huge issues. Not only the camera suddenly changes its perspective to strange positions and at awkward moments which makes proper platforming close to impossible at times (especially when you are forced to backtrack after missing a key item), but also jumping out of moving platforms is heavily affected by their momentum, pushing the main character way over the intended location after each jump. The level design mostly consists of seemingly haphazardly placed platforms with no thought of proper world building and aesthetic design put into them, and this had bled into the menu design as well; from life lessons for kids and advertisements for a dairy brand on loading screens, to out of place imagery of Persepolis in the level select menu.

Though despite all of the issues, it is relatively easy to bear with them and play the game to the end; especially when the game only takes an hour or two to be completed. However, the game will not reward the players with a proper epilogue. The moment you reach the end of the final level, the game will suddenly cut to a still image and teases a sequel that never got made. Despite gaining fame and praise from local media, the developer inevitably had to stop their projects and close doors due to a lack of interest in video game development at the time. The game has been unavailable for purchase since then, even with the rise of digital distribution platforms in Iran, and physical copies are nowhere to be found.

Overall, I advise playing this game only to get a glimpse at earliest attempts to develop commercial video games in Iran (which was and still is a punishing task) and witness the evolution of the country's game development through time. At the time in Iran, this game was like water given to a man stranded in the desert and nobody tried to harshly criticize the quality of a game that was one of a kind. But to worldwide audiences, and especially in this day and age, the game is very dated and might not provide the entertainment some might seek.

Review By Parham Aghakhani