There are few video games as unassuming as Lily in Puzzle World. It might have been drawn in an train e-book. The graphical constancy is in regards to the stage of one of many 79p video games that crop up on the Xbox Retailer every so often. There’s no story. It’s chopped up into fifty ranges, every becoming right into a single recreation display, and there’s not more than 5 – 6 obstacles per stage.
It might be straightforward to jot down it off instantly. It definitely calls for that you just overlook its artwork, and be enthusiastic about platformers that preserve issues pure. However if you happen to can settle for it with these warts, Lily in Puzzle World is a kind of indie video games that retains you hooked from the start to its brief finish. We wolfed all of it up in a single session.
We couldn’t let you know who Lily is, why she’s in Puzzle World, or why she seems to be one thing like an Ibuprofen. However she’s received one crafty capacity: when she steps on a block with a smiley face on it, she turns right into a smaller, aspirin-shaped Lily. That model of Lily can match by way of small gaps, and has a big leap, too. Ibuprofen-Lily has nothing. You suck, Ibuprofen-Lily.
Ranges develop a easy however satisfying sample. The primary process is to seek out Little Lily. Then you’ll want to discover a key. That key opens the exit that takes you to the subsequent stage, so is fairly important. On the best way is a coin, and that coin serves as the sport’s out-of-the-way collectible. You don’t need to seize it, and grabbing it may be dangerous, however it’s spent on a medieval helmet for Lily (different hats can be found). If that doesn’t tempt you, nothing will.
The obstacles are pretty conventional. There aren’t any enemies – that is Puzzle World, not Fight World – so that you’re coping with spikes, crossbows on timers and spinning blades. The platforms are barely extra unconventional: there are those who fall as you step on them, some that routinely transfer and – our favorite – ones that transfer solely when you step on them. None of them are revolutionary, however there’s easy cleverness in the best way that they’re mixed to make minor conundrums.
Extra importantly, the controls are tight. There’s little or no probability that you’ll swan-dive off a shifting platform and imagine that the sport is at fault. We even discovered ourselves dying and laughing at our personal lack of forward-planning. That’s an excellent check in our eyes: if we’re taking the piss out of ourselves, it implies that management is totally with us.
Lily in Puzzle World’s shortcomings are fairly predictable. We’ve already talked about the sketchbook artwork, however the lack of problem is one other. If you happen to’re affected person, take your time with every impediment (there’s no time restrict to fret about), then you’ll barely hit a hitch. That is perhaps a dealbreaker for the Tremendous Meat Boy crowd. And whereas the degrees are constructed with cleverness, they’re not working with a lot. There are solely seven or eight elements to work from, and it may make the degrees really feel considerably fundamental.
We are able to’t make a case for Lily in Puzzle World’s presentation. Most individuals can have dismissed it outright from a single screenshot. It’s within the awkward spot of not being engaging sufficient for informal gamers, and being too straightforward for the hardcore. We suspect it gained’t do significantly nicely, as individuals assume it’s shovelware masquerading as a £4.19 recreation.
Dismiss it, although, and also you’d be lacking out on a pure, tiny platformer. It’s received only a few pretensions, but it surely will get the essential stuff – the controls, the degrees – proper, and it will get them proper for lengthy sufficient that you’ll attain the top in a single session. If you happen to like your platforming bitesize, then you’ll remorse nothing about selecting up Lily in Puzzle World.
