Lost in Play

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Lost in Play is a family-friendly Graphic Adventure released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game has players taking the roles of a brother and sister playing with each other both in the real world, as well as in a dream/fantasy world.

Right from the start, Lost in Play is absolutely adorable. Everything from its gorgeous, well-animated, hand-drawn visuals to the silly nonsensical language the characters speak, to the amazing characterization of its characters (both the two leads and all of the various other people and critters they come across), to the delightful instrumental soundtrack (with some choral moments and even an amusing acapella main theme. And as is befitting a game depicting in detail the imagination of children, this game’s locales, characters, and scenarios are also highly creative.

As a Graphic Adventure game, Lost in Play is also highly accessible. While the characters don’t speak, pictures pop up indicating pretty much exactly what they want or what is needed to progress. There’s usually enough options that you have to put a little thought into what you need to do, but not so many that you ever feel lost – and if you do, the game provides a nice hint system that seems to do a good job of pointing you in the right direction without necessarily giving everything away.

What’s more, this game has some pretty clever puzzles interspersed throughout, such as one early puzzle involving moving pieces on a checkerboard not to jump over an opposing piece but to trap them, or another one where players try to move through a maze of pathways while evading a chasing monster.

In terms of complaints, I will say that I was slightly irritated on a few occasions where the interactive elements in a room changed without any apparent reason why they should do so, meaning I needed to use the help button only to be told to check something I had already checked. And it would have been nice to have a hot spot button to reveal interactive objects, though this was rarely a major issue.

However, overall, it’s hard to complain much about Lost in Play. This is an absolutely charming Graphic Adventure, with wonderful characters, a beautiful presentation, clever puzzles, and highly accessible gameplay. I think this is a game that can be appreciated both by youngsters new to the genre as well as Graphic Adventure veterans looking for something lighthearted and fun. It’s hard to go wrong with this one.

tl;dr – Lost in Play is an absolutely charming family-friendly Graphic Adventure where players take the role of two children playing both in the real world and in their make-believe imaginary world. The presentation is adorable, the characters are wonderfully lovable, the puzzles are clever, and the gameplay is highly accessible. There are maybe a few small complaints here and there, but overall this is an outstanding entry in the genre that’s sure to bring a smile to your face.

Grade: A-

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