Video Game Review: Limbo

Release Year: 2010
Reading Year: FA2023
Developer/Publisher: Playdead/Microsoft Game Studios
Time to Beat: 2.5 Hours

Thoughts: Truly one of the OG indie titles that really put indie games on the map. It is tight, atmospheric, and keeps you moving along. Given that 13 years has gone by and that I am trying to get through the game after a few starts over the years, it feels like a bit of a relic. It is linear to a fault. It feels like this game was made to get casual gamers into the indie scene. There is so little room for ambiguity and each mechanic feels tuned to death.

Okay, I finished it up. I ended up a using a guide to help me through the last couple levels, which helped me realize why I don’t really like this game: it feels like the developers do everything they can to force you into their solution to the puzzle. It doesn’t feel like you discover a solution so much as finding the tells that you are doing what they want. For example, everything happens at the last second, so if that isn’t happening, then it’s probably something else. It is so linear and doesn’t allow for creativity.

One thing this game did help me learn (because I wanted to finish it fairly quickly) is that you get a lot of the game designers intent by trying and dying frequently. I felt like I really understood the vision of the platforming and puzzles because I spent less time trying to figure them out and more time just doing stuff!