There are few video games as unassuming as Lily in Puzzle World. It may have been drawn in an train ebook. The graphical constancy is concerning 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 simple to write down it off instantly. It definitely calls for that you just overlook its artwork, and be considering platformers that preserve issues pure. However when you 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 appears one thing like an Ibuprofen. However she’s obtained one crafty means: 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 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 search out Little Lily. Then it’s good to discover a key. That key opens the exit that takes you to the following stage, so within reason important. On the way in which is a coin, and that coin serves as the sport’s out-of-the-way collectible. You don’t have 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 are not 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 people who fall as you step on them, some that mechanically 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 way in which that they’re mixed to make minor conundrums.
Extra importantly, the controls are tight. There’s little or no likelihood that you’ll swan-dive off a transferring 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 sign up our eyes: if we’re taking the piss out of ourselves, it signifies that management is totally with us.
Lily in Puzzle World’s shortcomings are moderately predictable. We’ve already talked about the sketchbook artwork, however the lack of problem is one other. Should you’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 may be 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 components to work from, and it might make the degrees really feel considerably primary.
We will’t make a case for Lily in Puzzle World’s presentation. Most individuals could 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 simple for the hardcore. We suspect it gained’t do notably effectively, as folks 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 obtained only a few pretensions, however it will get the essential stuff – the controls, the degrees – proper, and it will get them proper for lengthy sufficient that you’ll attain the tip in a single session. Should you like your platforming bitesize, then you’ll remorse nothing about choosing up Lily in Puzzle World.