Graphic adventures can’t seem to calm themselves. It seems there is…and it feels like it has more misses than hits. Impressive.
Lost in Play is the first solo game from the Tel Aviv-based studio and features many of the hallmarks of the golden age of point-and-click adventures. Cartoon style, humorous animated protagonists, item-based puzzles, and intriguing 2D. A scene that serves both as a play space and as a reward for clearing the previous area. However, it also shakes off many classic bugbears. Pixel hunting is not possible because you are moving the characters, not the cursor. If the game doesn’t use words, the hint system is useful but not very transparent. The environment is kept small and the time in it is short, so there’s little turning back. You’re playing with a child’s imagination, so quirky dream logic is completely permissible.
These aren’t necessarily new inventions, but they’re very cleverly put together and make for a great player experience that avoids common minor irritations. Have you ever played a game where your character couldn’t reach something and said “Just stretch!‘, Lost In Play Hears You: Improvised Ladder Just barely High enough, kids will ride on their toes to get to what they want. You’ll never get bored in Lost in Play.
There are constant novelties in every aspect of the game. Puzzles aren’t just about the same ideas appearing over and over again in new clothes. Item-based and environment-based puzzles grow in complexity, and at one point reach a hilarious mashup of adventure game dependency charts and heist movie-plan montages. In addition to these major Overworld puzzles, there are regular breakouts into individual smaller games. A board game against seagulls. Monster escape logic test. Physics-based skill challenge. Since you’re using a controller, there are simple button-based activities like steering a vehicle or pumping a power gauge. The difficulty curve is surprisingly smooth, the wordless gameplay and funny animations are aimed at kids, but the tricky mini-games will keep adults racking their brains.
The sound design is excellent with irresistibly playful finger clicks from the moment the game loads a cappella And throughout the endearing gibberish spoken by everyone in the game, it’s nonsense but well-acted. It features special sequences that are detailed and playful in a way Golden Age adventure games never did.
At five hours or so, Lost in Play almost certainly offers intelligent gaming and frenzied entertainment. Doing so makes many of the design challenges in this genre seem easy. We hope this will inspire and influence future graphic adventures.
