Warning! Don't jump into the writeup! You will have the adventure spoiled!
In the beginning, Father (an omnipresent being very similar to God) created Quater, who created seven offspring - from memory, the order is Ogdilla, Bertbert, Numeron, Ottoborg, Homen, Hoborg and Arven. Hoborg (a name that is supposed to mean "big heart") was created to be kind, creative, and caring. Perfect for the creator of the Neverhood.
Willie and Big Robot Bil were both created by Ottoborg, and they went off with Hoborg in order to find the finest 'klay' in the universe. While they were there, they were chased by a monster, and had to offload most of the klay to escape. But they had enough to create the Neverhood, "a world which would last forever, so long as nothing went wrong" (at which point, Hoborg's story in the Hall Of Records suddenly stops). So, it transpires, Hoborg created the Neverhood from this 'klay', and was very lonely (although goodness knows why - he had Willie and Bil still around), so he created Klogg, who became greedy and stole Hoborg's crown.
Klaymen is the hero of the Neverhood. He was specially created by his own cousin (no jokes about incest, PLEASE!) in order to save the Neverhood from Klogg, and help it become complete. To do so, Klaymen must navigate himself through the weird, wacky world, solving puzzles, remembering symbols, and trying not to die in the process.
Aside from all of that, The Neverhood is actually quite a delightful game with some very interesting puzzles to solve. I can remember I was given it as a gift many years ago, and missed out on the simple puzzle of turning on the water from the skull-like tap (rhino? triceratops?). I picked up on this a couple of weeks ago, when I dug it up again and started using it. It was then that I started getting things together, and finally managed to win and see both the endings - a short one, where Klaymen takes the crown for himself, and the substantially longer one, where Klaymen, through a marvellous display of agility, puts the crown on Hoborg's head, where it belongs.
This game is especially good because, unlike other adventure games, it is virtually impossible to die - "unless your boss comes around the corner and busts you for playing this game. There is only one place you can die in the Neverhood, and it is clearly marked". (Those who are curious and want to see Klaymen meet his demise, SAVE THE GAME FIRST! ...of course, this is common sense anyway.)
The Neverhood has been impressively made. It is one of very few games to be made completely out of claymation - others including Wallace & Gromit: Cracking Animator. The Neverhood gets its laughs from its non-PC style and unrealistic scenery - and yes, seeing a blue goat being squashed. Funny, challenging, colourful and appealing - a good game, although not really a must-have in this world of almost perfect 3D rendering.
Three out of five.