Lost In Play Review – Escaping Your Fantasy

When I played the demo of Lost In Play during Steam Next Fest, I just knew then and there that this game is going to establish a special place in my heart when it releases. Developed by Happy Juice Games and published by Joystick Ventures, It is a puzzle game that features a cartoonish art style that you just can’t help but adore. And we have prepared this Lost In Play review to inform you whether the game is worth it or not. 

Lost in Play is the first title Happy Juice Games has developed, so there is a chance that this could be the game that gives the developers their big break, and for most people, first impressions are everything. So, without further delay, let’s go ahead and start our review.

Story And Setting

The game features a colorful journey through childhood imagination. Your task is to help Toto and Gal on an epic adventure, who are two characters stuck far away from home and lost in their imagination. If they do not return to their home before nightfall, then they will be stuck in their fantasy world forever.

When the game first starts off, the setting is quite normal. But the scenery changes fairly quickly from what seems like just another ordinary day in the park, and the players soon find themselves running through an enchanted forest, hiding from a magical bear, and helping frogs with their tasks so they can help you pull out a sword stuck in stone. 

Lost In Play features some really colorful characters, as well as unique and carefully crafted challenges and mini-games. And overall, the game offers a family-friendly wholesome experience that players of any age group can enjoy.

Gameplay 

The gameplay of Lost in Play revolves around point-and-click puzzles. Be warned that these are not as child friendly as one may think. They are surprisingly challenging and not your average brain teasers, therefore you might have to invest more effort into them then you might expect.

There are numerous trials in the game, such as helping a frog get his can of flies open, and assisting a dog in moving the sheep to their corresponding locations in its dreams. If you ever find yourself stuck on a challenge, thankfully there is a button that will let you reset the whole thing instantly if you feel like you have made a wrong move or if you’re about to lose. There is also a hint option in case you are really struggling with a puzzle.

Some of these challenges require you to collect certain items before you can complete them, so players will also be required to explore their current area before they can complete any challenges and progress the story forward. 

An example of one such puzzle is at the beginning of the game where you have to wake up your sleeping brother. Players are required to explore the room and interact with different items. that could make sense in the situation. After a bit of experimentation, you will find that you can fix the alarm clock and use it to wake up Toto.

A tiny little quirk that adds to the charm of the game is the fact that every single character in the game talks in gibberish, but their intentions are conveyed through a series of symbols. So you can learn about their objectives visually rather than audibly. In simpler words, the game has no dialogue, everything is conveyed through the gameplay. This helps the players understand what their objective are at all times, rather than being left to guess what they are supposed to do or look to a quest marker for help.

As for the controls, I will highly recommend using a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse as controlling the characters and managing the inventory feels much more natural with a controller. The controller is also the recommended input from the developers.

Visuals And Performance 

Lost in Play does not fall behind when it comes to visuals, thanks to its hand-drawn cartoonish art style that is more akin to an animated show than your typical video game. It makes the world feels much more vibrant and beautiful. There is also a lot of variety when it comes to the environment as well, whether you’re walking in a bright open field, or making your way through a dark enchanted forest. Overall, the game is just drop-dead gorgeous to look at.

Thanks to its compelling art direction and graphic choice, Lost in Play can very easily be considered one of the most visually appealing indie titles released this year.

When it comes to performance, Lost in Play is not a particularly intensive game, meaning even an 8-year-old PC should have no problem running this title. And the game does not even have any small performance hiccups either, unlike some of the bigger bug-ridden releases we have seen recently.

While playing on my AMD Radeon RX 580, I experienced nothing short of flawless performance while I was testing the game on PC as part of our Lost In Play Review. 

Verdict

Lost in Play is a game about a brother and sister on an adventure in their imaginations, trying to find their way home. Throughout the epic journey, they will need to solve unique challenges and explore exotic locations such as an enchanted forest, a goblin castle, and even ancient ruins.

The developers promised a wholesome adventure for people of all ages to enjoy and they delivered flawlessly on that promise. Lost in Play can very easily be considered one of the best indie games released recently.

If you were looking for a wholesome puzzle game to sink a few hours into, or if you are the type of gamer who prefer indies over AAA titles then Lost in Play is the perfect game for you. That concludes our detailed review of Lost in Play.

The Good 

• Sublime Art Direction.
• Hand Drawn Graphics.
• Unique Puzzles And Mini-Games.

The Bad 

• The Short Runtime.

Lost in Play Rating – 4/5

We hope our Lost In Play review helped you in deciding whether this game is worth it for you or not. The title is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC through Steam and GoG.

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