Lumo

Lumo is a classic game that stays up to date with modern tools. The game's charming adventure easily bridges the gap between retro and modern.

One thing that's evident from the outset of Gareth Noyce's isometric puzzler is the focus on nostalgia. Noyce is somewhat of an industry veteran working for a number of studios over the past 15 years, including the recently closed Lionhead, Geometry Wars creators Bizarre, and Realtime Worlds. Ostensibly an homage to isometric adventure games of the 80s and 90s, LUMO (Finnish for enchantment) is also a love letter to gaming trends throughout Noyce's career, and to the sensibilities of his previous studio's output.

The game is constructed almost entirely of puzzles, having to solve each one to progress through the dungeon. What’s more, the game does nothing to bog you down with instruction, narrative, dialogue, or anything else resembling a word – be it written or spoken. Much like playing an older arcade game, you are simply dropped in and made to adapt and survive which works fantastically well: something about this minimalist style gives the tiny hero and his room by room adventure more heart and warmth. The puzzles themselves start out with the basics to understand the mechanics and physics of manipu...

A cute platformer with a hidden mean streak.

Old-school inspired indie games rarely emulate what made video gaming special back in the day. Thankfully, Lumo does so perfectly but does it also carry too much retro baggage?

Lumo could have easily been another retro inspired title that did little other than revel in old-school visuals. It's actually a lovely trip down memory lane.

Lumo is a charming little puzzle and platforming game that older and younger audiences will enjoy, but it does get frustrating at times.

Had it not been for the ice sections souring my experience, Lumo could have been a fantastic meditative journey filled with genuinely rewarding puzzles and gorgeous environments. Unfortunately, as it stands, some areas of the game are just too frustrating to even contemplate revisiting; whether it was at the hand of the ill-forsaken icy floor, or the blasted camera angle, some rooms had me dying more than 20 times before being successful and I daresay this would test even the most tolerant gamer’s patience. Without these incredibly frustrating mechanics, Lumo has a lot of promise. It’s a gorge...

While the controls are simple, picking a control style that makes sense to the player is crucial to playing the game.  Three different control styles are offered, two different isometric directions and normal directions, each determining if moving the joystick around is oriented to the character or the controller.  Precise movement and platforming are required in all puzzles, which is part of what can make the game so frustrating to get a handle on.  Without practice learning where your ch...

Lumo is full of well thought out puzzles, but it lacks certain gameplay touches that could have pushed it into being a great game. My main gripe is that the jumping feels awkward and, coupled with perspective issues, means you can fail a simple puzzle dozens of times. The game does have a certain charm to it, and I would recommend it as a nostalgia trip for players that grew up with similar games, but this will not be for those who aren’t fans of classic titles or puzzles.