There is a wonderful world in the imagination of children. Inanimate objects and events can be constructed into fantastic journeys. That’s the premise of Lost in Play. This magical point-and-click adventure follows a duo of brothers on an odyssey across deserts, forests, and other crazy places they’ve dreamed of. There are plenty of puzzles and mini-games, and an art style that fits the theme. This is a near-perfect package with a few hitches when it comes to the overall experience.
Lost In Play is basically a point and click adventure. Common tropes of finding items and combining them with the environment, or solving esoteric puzzles in mini-games apply here. The puzzles themselves are rarely difficult. Most of the items found in the environment stand out, and the map remains small, so it doesn’t take long to consider a solution. Too esoteric or lacking direct logic. Early puzzles require you to move frog statues up and down, which can take a frustratingly long time to figure out a particular order if the answer isn’t directly in the foreground. No, but it can feel like a lifetime when solutions are holding you back from progressing.
Likewise for some mini-games. Ingenious new ideas, such as his one-on-four checkers game against tree goblins and a fun scene reordering game where you have to organize a timeline of events for a lady who feeds ducks, clever Mini-games are numerous throughout the story. These lead to some critical thinking and strategies that break down the puzzles and storytelling with added charm. It feels like There is one event where you move along the board to escape the Yeti. It plays like a Hitman Go/Lara Croft Go game, but I found it frustrating overall. When such a situation arose, I stumbled upon a solution that became more of a chore than an event. These examples were the exception, not the rule, but they were still a sticking point for me.
The story of the brother-sister duo Toto and Gal is eccentric. A fantasy tale where their imagination takes the brothers into Mad Max-style deserts, fantasy castle dungeons, floating islands and even underwater submarines. Combine these areas with crazy characters like the Frog King, Gambling Goblins, and Tea Party with Gnomes. A throughline has been established that children must be home by nightfall or stuck forever in the dream world. It’s a cute vehicle to move the plot forward, full of fake words and lots of charm, similar to Simlish.
The place is always unexpected and unique, a blessing underscored by a beautiful art style. When you see the game in action, you’ll appreciate its fluid animations. If someone is playing this and doesn’t have a controller in their hands, they’ll think this is the new quirky cartoon movie. If this was a new anime series on the streaming service, I would totally watch it. The visuals are combined with a great sense of humor that will excite the sensibilities of both children and adults. It has a level of sophistication that stands out among other indie productions.
There were issues with the puzzle design and difficulty, but it was short-lived as the game progressed at a fairly breezy pace, taking about five hours in total and about 30 minutes for each map. While this game can be played well by all ages (although a parent is most helpful when solving the more tricky puzzles), its presentation is something that keeps families playing. The mechanics may lack depth, but they make up for it with seamless animations and a catchy musical score. This is a great freshman game from indie developer Happy Juice Games that promises a bright future ahead.
