Download the free Lumione demo: a beautiful platformer
The platform genre has been a staple of gaming for decades and has produced some truly iconic titles — we’re sure everyone has heard of Super Mario Bros., one of the best-selling platform series ever.
Even in 2021, studios still produce platformers because they’re the ultimate blend of challenging gameplay and familiar (yet simple) character controls.
A platformer is defined by its 2D design, where you mostly move left and right on the x-axis and up and down on the y-axis. This reduces how much content developers need to build and also minimizes your chances of getting lost in the narrative or levels.
Developer and publisher
Lumione is published by the popular (and sometimes controversial) game company Perfect World (Singapore). In contrast to the relatively large publisher, the developer behind the game is a team of just four recently graduated university students.
That means all the beautiful visuals you enjoy (the game is stunning), the two core mechanics you learn, and the 170 levels you’ll overcome come directly from four young minds — Glimmer Studio.
You won’t notice this in terms of quality at all — the game looks and feels like modern indie titles (with gorgeous graphics and smooth performance) that usually have much bigger teams behind them. Instead, you can focus on how impressive it is that such a small team managed to create such a polished game.
Usability
As is often the case with platformers, it’s quick to get started and easy to understand, yet incredibly hard to master. Move with the arrow keys on your keyboard and jump with ‘C’.
If you hit a wall and don’t want to fall to your death, grab on with ‘Z’, and glide through the air with ‘X’. You can only jump once before you need to touch the ground again and set up your next leap.
However, you can jump and then glide; you can also only glide once before you need to recharge. Do this by standing on the ground or by hitting an energy barrier that lets you continue flying afterward.
Graphics that capture an underwater feel
You play as a deep-sea fairy: ‘Glimmer’, a small ocean-dwelling sprite running through stages inspired by underwater locations. Fish and whales swim in the background, and glowing coral and seaweed add depth to the 2D world.
Glimmer has lost someone they loved dearly and is now on a journey to overcome that loss.
The backgrounds are beautiful and change just as often as the active (midground) terrain you run and jump across.
Varied levels with increasingly tough challenges and tactics
The game is undeniably beautiful, and every time you beat a level, the camera moves forward to reveal new locations with different color combinations that also hint at which tactics you should focus on if you get stuck.
The creators have built 170 levels for you to play through, and each one brings new challenges that will definitely put you to the test — even if you only download the demo version.
Availability
The game is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. It’s not the widest availability on the market, of course, but remember it was developed by a small studio (just four people).
Other platformers similar to Lumione
The Last Campfire also revolves around chasing the light. However, this isn’t a 2D platformer but a camera-locked point-and-click adventure where you solve various puzzles to progress toward the final campfire. This game also focuses on themes of loss, heartbreak, and redemption.
Tomb Rumble is also a platformer and is free to download and play. In the game, you fight other players online to reach the grand treasure at the end of a tomb filled with various challenges and deadly traps.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits features beautiful animated graphics and a lovely story that, much like The Last Campfire and Lumione, deals with loss and learning to accept the way life unfolds.
Conclusion
Lumione is a platformer that will test your ability to adapt to difficult challenges — and your patience. It’s demanding, but backed by gorgeous visuals and a sweet story.
It’s available on PC and Nintendo Switch and offers great value for money, as many stages require multiple tries before you find the perfect combination of strategies to win.
Download Lumione
