Toby: The Secret Mine

A poor little boy sees his village get attacked by a kidnapper. His friends are taken hostage. Now, he must track down the villainous creature to free his friends and discover the truth behind the invasion. Can you help him save the people of his village?

Puzzle-platformer fans take notice; Toby: The Secret Mine is now out on the Wii U eShop. Said to draw inspiration from games like Badland, this release is defin

Quite simply, Toby: The Secret Mine is the most blatant “Limbo” rip-off that I’ve played. Whether considering the aesthetic, gameplay style, form of narrative, puzzles or the abundance of trial and error – it’s all lifted straight from Playdead’s Limbo and repackaged under the name Toby: The Secret Mine. Even developer Headup Games in it’s game description compares this game to “modern classics” such as Limbo. There will never be any escaping the direct comparison. But here’s the question: is this a worthwhile Limbo knock-off, or one to avoid?

Toby: The Secret Mine can be easily pardoned as a complete larceny of Limbo – but it’s not as simple as that. When Toby does craft its own uniqueness, there is a lot to like. While it doesn’t do this as frequent as it probably should, it never overshadows what the game has to offer. I played Limbo to death when it was released on PSN – pun intended – and while it’s not as repayable as limbo, I’ll probably give Toby another run through too. After all, nobody runs away with my monochrome-styled friends and puts them in cages and gets away with it.

There are a handful of game genres that indie developers seem to constantly gravitate towards. Toby: The Secret Mine is yet another 2D puzzle platformer so let's put on our helmets, grab a pickaxe, and head to the mine.

Toby: The Secret Mine is a game full of promise and potential, but unfortunately isn't able to reach the lofty heights it strives for. Despite taking clear inspiration from a game that in the past several years has made a serious impact on the puzzle-platform genre, one man developer Lukáš Navrátil isn't able to quite nail the execution.

While beautiful in some aspects, Toby: The Secret Mine fails to grasp its potential, and leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. It’s short, way too challenging, and way too random at points that will frustrate even the most patient of gamers.

Toby: The Secret Mine is inspired, to say the least. Its not its imitation of previous games that kills it, but its execution of those elements. It had potential, but you've seen this game before.