Waking up face down on the beach, the hero of Survival Kids is fortunate that the waves have washed him ashore with his backpack still attached. Struggling to his feet and appraising his situation, the future appears bleak until he finds a cave and uses his meager possessions to start a fire. As his clothes start drying from the heat of the fire, he decides to sleep and face the next day on a night's sleep.

The next morning while exploring and walking in the forest, Keith spies a girl lying on the beach with a lifeboat nearby. Once acquainted and learning that she lost her eyeglasses, the two comb the beach for them. He quickly finds them, albeit crushed like a cookie, underneath his massive feet. Apologetic, Keith leads her by the hand to his cave so she can dry off and grab a bite to eat. Pooling their resources, the two fashion rudimentary tools, eke a living, and make the best of their new life while exploring the island and discovering new things.

When exploring, raw materials such as wood, stones, and coconuts may be picked up and squirreled away in the backpack along with sharp rocks which may be handy as cutting instruments. When near new ground that is of interest, a dialogue bubble will appear and an item may be picked up or the stylus may be used to scratch at the ground in order to uncover hidden objects or foods such as edible roots. The raw materials may be collected and built into tables, chairs, and other conveniences which help the island life pass a little easier. Menial labor such as sawing wood and smoothing out lumber is performed by matching cues that appear on screen with stylus strokes.

At the end of each day, a tally of accomplishments and objects picked up are accounted for such as the number of twigs, tree bark, sticks, etc. Foods are also tallied including delicacies such as abalone, clams, coconuts, mushrooms, taro root, and raspberries. As more ingredients are picked up, dishes may be prepared with various ingredients and a cooking mini-game may be played where instructions rush downwards and one must perform the scribble or other action at the right time. Perform perfectly and a dish worthy of a Michelin star is cooked up. Foil the cues and a proper disaster serves as dinner.

Actions in the game include fishing with a wooden pole, milking a goat that they find, finding foods such as taro root, cooking, hunting, and shaking trees to dislodge coconuts and others. When milking the goat, the player grabs two udders with both hands and squirts the milk into a bucket with realistic sound effects squishing in the background. The key to proper milking might be regular rhythmic squirts but the goat quickly becomes sore and kicks you away. When creating a fire, the L + R triggers are pressed alternately to roll a twig over a sheet of tree park. Rhythmic tapping of the buttons will eventually cause a swirl of smoke to appear. Once the swirl starts steaming out, blow on the microphone to give the fledgling flame a little more oxygen and a crimson fire soon billows into existence. If the constancy of the trigger tapping is irregular or too fast, the twig will fly out of the player's hands and into the dirt.

The upper DS screen keeps track of the player's stats such as vitality, thirst, and hunger which are displayed through three indicators which are filled to the brim at the outset but gradually deplete. To fill up the three, a coconut may be consumed which replenishes the levels somewhat. The ultimate goal of Survival Kids is to build a seaworthy raft or find another means to escape the island and return to civilization.

After completing the game as the hero, players can take up the role of the heroine for a new experience.

The alternate SKU number for this item is RY003-J1.

View the back cover and screenshots.

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