Imagination is one of the fundamental things that makes us human. Every story throughout history has come about because someone imagined it. From folk tales to the stories in the games we play, each one came from someone’s imagination – even many history books have been embellished. Children can have even more active imaginations than adults, and it is that which is the basis of the adventure puzzle game Lost in Play.
Lost in Play’s story follows the tale of brother and sister pair Toto and Gal, who find themselves sitting at home on a sunny day. Gal gets a bit bored and starts putting things together to get Toto to play with her, and this leads to an adventure that will take them far from home (at least in their imaginations), getting them involved in all sorts of situations from searching for rubber ducks to exploring an ancient tomb. Lost in Play is split into episodes with each one the setting for a series of puzzles to complete. The game is split between a standard point and click adventure, to solving different types of puzzles with each episode giving its own unique spin.
The point and click puzzles are put together really well and are not so obtuse that you cannot figure out the next steps. There will be a couple of moments where you may get stuck, but Lost in Play has a generous hint system that clues you into what you should be looking for. It does not give you the answer completely, but hints that will help things fall into place. The additional puzzles include playing a card game where you bet to win the highest card to reach a total of 30 points, and getting a flag from one side of a pond to another using rubber ducks. Each of these keeps Lost In Play fresh as you never know what to expect next.
Lost in Play’s story is as wholesome as it gets and shows a great sibling relationship between the two children. They work together to solve problems, but will also get annoyed at each other if the situation calls for it. The dialogue they have is gibberish, but that does not matter as every meaning of what characters are saying is made clear by the visuals and the environment. You just have to put your own imagination to use to figure out what the characters are saying to each other. In spite of the lack of understandable dialogue, there are some funny moments in Lost in Play which is more reliant on slapstick humour.
What also stands out about Lost in Play is the game’s visual style. It genuinely looks like a cartoon that you would watch on TV. It has been meticulously put together giving off a very colourful vibe, and the cartoon aesthetic really adds to the going on an imaginary adventure feel. You can see how Lost in Play has been inspired by a number of popular cartoons.