Lumino City review
:: CITY OF MYSTERYPrice: $4.99
Version: 1.4
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5
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The App Store and Google Play host an amazing variety of point-and-click adventure games. Those of us who grew up in the '90s have been having a grand ol' time re-living those days of solid storytelling, clever puzzles - and desperate clicking in search of hot spots.
Granted, most modern point-and-click adventure games highlight hotspots for players, because "poke around blindly" isn't much of a gameplay mechanic.
Nevertheless, State of Play's Lumino City really takes us back by doing away with hotspot indications. That might not be a bad thing, depending on how nostalgic you are for the adventure games of your childhood.
World of felt and wood
At any rate, Lumino City is one gorgeous-looking game.
A young girl, Lumi, must track down her grandfather after he's spirited away. Her travels quickly take her to Lumino City, a delightfully ramshackle (and hand-assembled!) town seemingly crafted with felt, sticks, and wood.
But these childish materials betray the darker story churning within the city walls.
Lumino City is pretty linear and there's not a lot of backtracking. Though some adventure game purists might argue this goes against the spirit of the genre, it's not such a bad thing when you consider the game's lack of highlighted hotspots.
It really cuts down on the guess-work and forces you to focus on your immediate settings.
The bottom line
Admittedly, things can still be hard to discern. I played on an iPhone 5 and had a devil of a time picking out the stick and the bell I needed to solve the very first puzzle.
Lumino City is a sweet adventure game with some truly unique visuals. However, you probably want to play it on a tablet because it makes puzzles easier to solve, plus you can really appreciate Lumi's surroundings.