LittleBigPlanet Meets Its Artistic Match in Lumino City - Preview

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Whilst at EGX 2014 today I had the chance to play a charming and beautiful game - called Lumino City - in which you play as a small girl in a model world trying to find her kidnapped grandfather.

And that's the first thing I want to emphasise - Lumino City looks absolutely stunning. After playing the game briefly, and talking to the developers, it's clear that State of Play Games have really pushed the boat out when it comes to the art and style of the game. The game world is actually based around a 7ft tall set that the developers have created in their studio, and they've used an expensive mechanical camera to capture the set with pinpoint precision. 

The quality of the objects found in the game is astounding as a result of this, with each part of the particular stage I played looking every bit as charming as the last. Lumino City plays out like an adventure game, and revolves around solving puzzles by clicking on pieces of the environment. One of the first puzzles I came across involved getting into the city in the first place. The puzzle was easily solved, but what struck me was how charming it was to tackle, with puzzle encouraging exploration of the scene itself, revealing every lovely detail in the world.

Lumino City feels like it was made by a group of talented artists and animators first and foremost, with the entire game looking like something you’d find in a clever, artistic commercial. I was floored by its design; it was even a joy to simply watch other people play the same scenes I had just played through once my hands-on time was up.

I couldn’t help but keep comparing it to LittleBigPlanet, purely for its clever use of varied materials and the general charm it exudes. But while it's aesthetically similar to the LittleBigPlanet franchise the gameplay is completely differetn and has its roots firmly planted in the adventure genre. State of Play Games told me that they’re looking into releasing an iOS version in the future, which is hardly surprising considering how the touch interface of iOS platforms could easily handle the control scheme of the game. 

I asked how long the game would last and was told that it would take up to 8 hours to complete - a moderate length for an adventure title of this sort. There are no official pricing details as of yet, but the developers told me they’re aiming for around a £20 price point, and although that may sound high I can very much see Lumino City being well worth it when it launches on Steam this November.

Edit: State of Play games have reached out to me to correct the length of the game, stating that it's actually closer to 8 hours than the aforementioned 3-6. This has been corrected in the article. 

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