REVIEW | Lost in Play

LifeIsXbox’s Lost In Play review | Now here is an indie game that’s been on my radar for quite some time. I was waiting for an Xbox version to drop (because I love me some achievements, what can I say?) but when I saw the physical release by Super Rare Games, I realized I wanted this in my collection, shining like a bright gem on my game shelf.

Lost in Play is a point & click adventure with a cartoon style in which two siblings escape in a fantasy world of their own creation, they dive so deep into their imagination that by the end of the game, they’ll need some help getting back to reality.

It’s a short but sweet title with loads of polish, but one that has managed to win my heart in several ways.

What we Liked!

• Animation | The animation in Lost In Play is top-notch and delightful. Every action you take in the game is met with funny or endearing reactions from the two siblings’ expressive faces. It’s like a well-polished interactive cartoon where you are in control.

• Hints | If you’re stuck on a puzzle, you can ask for a hint. Seeing as most of the puzzles are rather linear, the game is pretty good at guessing what got you stumped, but I have to admit I had to cheat and look up at least one puzzle online. It reminded me somewhat of how Professor Layton solves the difficulty but without the option of flat-out giving you the solution.

• Endearing Gibberish | Just like in my Planet of Lana review from earlier this week, the characters converse in an imaginary language which avoids needing to shell out the money for audio localization. The cartoony mumbles are cute and fit the characters perfectly.

• Minigames | Outside the expected use “item” on “object” type puzzles you’d expect from a game like this, there are also some minigames like a version of Poker or tic-tac-toe that are fun little ways to break up the formula.

• Scene select | If you want to watch a cinematic again or replay a certain section of the game, you can easily select the scene from the menu. This will be especially useful on platforms with achievements, in case you missed one.

Mixed Feelings

• A lot of puzzles required good memory | This may be a more personal issue, but my memory is plain terrible these days. Ask me to remember a sequence or numbers or object and ask me 5 minutes later to summarise them again and I’ll fail miserably. There are quite a few puzzles here that rely on memory, but luckily I could use the screenshot capabilities of the Switch to snap a visual reminder.

What we Disliked

• Too short | Lost in Play is a wonderful little point & click adventure, with an emphasis on “little”. The story is over before you’ll know it, and it felt like there was so much more content planned at some point, but got scoped out to keep the development costs feasible. Having worked in an indie game studio myself, I’ve been on that side of the coin myself where tough choices had to be made, but it would have been so nice if this had about 1 hour more of content at least (or 2-3 more scenes to visit) There is even a hint of what could have been in this short montage near the end:

How long to beat the story | About 3 hours
How long to complete | There isn’t really any optional content, so you’ll see all there is to see in those same 3 hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | Röki, Return to Monkey Island, The Almost Gone

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Robby

Robby lives and breathes video games. When he’s not playing them, he’s talking about them on social media or convincing other people to pick up a controller themselves. He’s online so often, he could practically list the internet as his legal domicile. Belgian games-industry know-it-all.