Puzzling (Mis)adventures: Volume 2 – Lucidity, Max & the Magic Marker, P.B. Winterbottom

While puzzles may be an integral genre staple, they certainly aren’t the exclusive domain of adventures. In fact, at the rate they’re now spreading to other types of games, “puzzles” may once again stop being a dirty word before long. (Call ‘em “minigames” all you want, but puzzles are still puzzles.) A new casual sub-genre has sprung up from a combination of puzzle-solving and scavenging hunting, but hidden object games aren’t the only ones incorporating brain-teasers. Entire games are now built around puzzles (hello, Professor Layton!), while RPGs, light action games, and even platformers are becoming a far more balanced mix of reflexes and reflection. If it’s not Portal, it’s the likes of Scribblenauts taking gamers deeper into the puzzling milieu, frequently wiping out genre lines in the process.

Earlier we took an in-depth look at three other creative and remarkably different puzzle-platform hybrids in Braid, And Yet It Moves, and World of Goo. But the search for mentally stimulating gameplay never ends, so today it’s time to introduce three newer titles of cross-genre interest. The surreal, dreamlike Lucidity marks a welcome re-emergence of original LucasArts game design, while Press Play’s Max & the Magic Marker challenges players to use their (even marginal) artistic skills to overcome obstacles. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, meanwhile, came from nowhere to capture imaginations and a whole lot of pies, and if that doesn’t make you hungry for more, read on and maybe the following will.

Lucidity

So apparently there was once a developer that specialized in beautiful, brilliantly-crafted puzzle-based gameplay. They went by the name of LucasArts. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. But as any adventure gamer knows, that was before the company turned to the dark side of the Force, neglecting the genre that helped make them famous in favour of outsourcing and rehashed franchise sequels. But 2009 marked something of a mini-renaissance for the former adventure giant, as they not only resurrected the long-dormant Monkey Island series, they also set their sights on a brand new, internally-developed property. The result? Lucidity.

This game is not an adventure by any means, but it’s no mere run-and-jump twitch game, either. Over the course of 27 main levels and 16 bonus levels, players control an imaginative young girl named Sofi, who falls asleep by her elderly grandmother’s side only to awaken some time later, afraid and alone. When a mysterious frog-like guide appears, Sofi has little choice but to follow on a surreal quest through a variety of fantastical environments, overcoming not just the many obstacles in her way, but her own fears as well. Yet as the game’s title dares us to ask: Is she dreaming? Is this real? And where has Sofi’s nana gone?

To be more accurate, players actually don’t control Sofi, which represents the key difference in Lucidity. All on her own, rather Lemmings-like, Sofi playfully skips through her journey as the screen scrolls relentlessly left-to-right along with her. The challenge is to protect her from the many dangers in her path, whether it’s giant dragonflies or snails, barbed wires, swirling vortexes, or simply the nothingness that begins to chase behind her, threatening to engulf Sofi if her progress is hopelessly impeded. The player’s only influence is the ability to place helpful items strategically in her way, from simple planks and stairs to springed shoes, slingshots, and fans to propel her upwards. Bombs are the only offensive “weapon” in your arsenal, but you’ll need those more for blasting through walls and barriers than hunting down foes.

While this may sound like a useful selection of tools, the catch is that you have only two at a time at your disposal. Items are arbitrarily generated in one of two boxes: the currently selected item for use and a storage slot in reserve. Left-clicking an accessible spot on screen will place the current object, and right-clicking will swap it with your secondary item. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but it does introduce a significant element of randomness. Often only one item will work in a particular situation, so you’re left quickly trying to place unwanted stuff elsewhere on the screen just to discard it. Making matters worse, cursor control is rather jittery using either a mouse or gamepad, clearly moving in defined increments on an unseen grid rather than smoothly sweeping across the screen. When stuck in close quarters with no time to spare, it’s frustrating to be fighting the interface just to hope lady luck will smile on you with a better item next. Allowing for a more tactical selection of items would have added a welcome layer of complexity and control.

You can “die” in Lucidity, whether by succumbing to a fatal trap or being hit twice in rapid succession by enemies. When hit once, you become more vulnerable to the next, though if you can avoid any immediate threats you’ll recover soon enough. Dying means either restarting the level or picking up at a midway checkpoint, a feature not originally included when the game was released on Xbox LIVE Arcade, only added later as a result of public feedback. This is a helpful addition, though most of the levels are quite short, taking only a couple minutes to complete, and many are fairly easy. Bonus levels are decidedly harder, often limiting your items and making the obstacles more demanding, but these are entirely optional.

The goal of Lucidity isn’t simply to reach the exit, however, but to collect magical fireflies as you go. Each level has dozens of little light clusters that you must pass Sofi near enough to collect. It isn’t necessary to gather them, but it’s the only way to unlock bonus levels, and they do provide a certain degree of replayability. In fact, it’s absolutely impossible to collect all of them in one pass, as they’re usually spaced high and low throughout the level. Unfortunately, this highlights one of the game’s major weaknesses, which is the lack of camera control. While the fixed perspective is generally adequate for getting Sofi across the screen, the inability to zoom out means there’s no way to get an overview and plan ahead. Particularly when moving vertically, you’ll never know if there are collectibles or enemies above or below your position until you stumble blindly upon them or realize (too late) that you’ve made the wrong choice.

That’s not the only reason you’ll find yourself wishing to see more, as Lucidity displays a charming aesthetic. The delightful dreamscapes are colourful and creative, taking players through wildly different environments that represent Sofi’s childlike memories. From “underwater” blue/greens to starry night skies, through fog and snow and gloomy, rain-drenched woods, the scenery is continually vivid and varied in a stylish hand drawn art style that’s somewhat reminiscent of paper cut-outs. It’s not overly detailed, but the abstract simplicity suits it wonderfully. You can’t stop to admire it anyway, as Sofi keeps moving ever-forward in perpetual motion. There is no voice acting or significant sound effects in the game, but Sofi emits a cute little grunt when she exerts herself, and the sound of crickets is almost melodious. Speaking of which, the haunting, melancholic soundtrack provides a lovely aural backdrop to the action.

Surprisingly, the one place the art feels like a letdown is the rather plain, uninspired postcards you get as your reward for completing levels. Each card contains a new thought of Sofi’s or her grandmother that help you understand what’s happened and how it’s affecting the child. Apart from a few cinematics that take Sofi back to her still-empty house, these brief written musings are the only real story element in Lucidity, but they do a nice job of expressing the kind of hope and fear, joy and sorrow that come from growing up and facing challenges, troubles, and even the most profound kind of loss. It’s a shame this narrative backdrop is so completely divorced from the actual gameplay, but it does provide ample encouragement to see the “story” through to the end.

It won’t take long to reach that point, however. Lucidity can easily be finished in 2-3 hours, though only by leaving many fireflies behind and new bonus levels unlocked, so you can always go back for more. The handy map screen shows how many fireflies are left in each level, and you can replay a scenario any time. Whether you’ll want to is debatable, mind you, as you’ll simply be retracing your steps and charting a different route through, using all the same items in all the same ways. Even the first time around, the number of objects available seems rather limited, leaving little sense of progression beyond the first half hour or so. A little more variety, or at least better spacing of new elements, would have gone a long way.

Despite its brevity and relative simplicity, it’s hard not to feel some fondness for Lucidity. Available for both PC through Steam and Xbox 360, its dreamy atmosphere is endearing, its bare but soulful storyline touching, and its quirky gameplay feels fresh and new, even if it does start to overstay its welcome before you’re done. This certainly won’t be the game that makes everyone forget Monkey Island, but it sure isn’t Star Wars, and here’s hoping that LucasArts, like Sofi, keeps pressing ever onward with more original designs. Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

Next up: Max & the Magic Marker…