Lingo
- December 12, 2021
- Brenton Wildes
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"Lingo" is a single-player adventure game centered around word puzzles and exploration in a first-person perspective. Featuring nonlinear gameplay, keyboard-based challenges, and an open world filled with secrets, the game boasts over 46 hours of playtime. Created by Brenton Wildes, "Lingo" offers a unique and immersive gaming experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Lingo offers a unique blend of word puzzles and exploration, reminiscent of games like The Witness and Antichamber.
- The game features a vast amount of content, including numerous puzzles and custom maps created by the community, providing endless replayability.
- Players experience satisfying 'aha' moments as they discover the rules and mechanics of the puzzles, making for an engaging and rewarding gameplay experience.
- The navigation can be frustrating due to the non-Euclidean design, making it easy to get lost and difficult to retrace steps.
- Some puzzles may feel arbitrary or overly complex, leading to moments of confusion and frustration for players.
- The graphics and overall presentation are simplistic, which may deter some players from fully immersing themselves in the game.
- gameplay80 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this puzzle game is characterized by its clever and complex mechanics, which revolve around word-based puzzles that challenge players to think laterally and discover connections. While the game excels in providing a satisfying and engaging experience through its non-linear exploration and gradual introduction of new mechanics, some players find the navigation and certain puzzles frustratingly opaque. Overall, it offers a rich environment for puzzle enthusiasts, with a strong community supporting custom content and additional challenges.
“One of the best games where the gameplay is as simple as it gets but the puzzles are as mind-boggling as can be.”
“The pacing is also excellent; I found myself really flying through this game due to how satisfying the moment-to-moment gameplay felt, which is an impressive feat for a puzzle game.”
“The mechanics are genius, and the game does an excellent job at teaching them to you without making them obvious.”
“I don't feel like the game did a good job teaching me the rules before introducing new mechanics and puzzle types.”
“The first couple of hours of the game are extremely rough, and I would not be surprised if many players bounce off the game due to the level of intransparency about what the core mechanics even are.”
“The music and graphics are gratingly awful to the point that they impede gameplay, and the central mechanic of the game, manipulation of words, in no way requires or even complements a mazelike non-euclidean map.”
- graphics34 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are predominantly described as simplistic and minimalistic, often lacking polish and detail, with many users noting a desire for more textures and visual variety. While some appreciate the nostalgic, blocky aesthetic reminiscent of early gaming, others find the visuals to be an eyesore that detracts from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, many reviewers emphasize that the engaging puzzle design and gameplay compensate for the graphical shortcomings, making the game worthwhile.
“The graphics are simple but good.”
“What hides beyond the simple graphics is a top tier puzzle design game based around words that takes a simple mechanic and fully explores its limits.”
“Please don't let the simple aesthetic fool you, this is one of the best puzzle games I've played and easily deserves to be talked about alongside games like The Witness.”
“Graphics-wise, the game is simplistic, but it lacks some nice polish. A few textures instead of the blank blocks would've gone a long way. I can't pick at it too much because, if I'm honest, it's totally fine, but it does leave the feel of wanting more in the visuals department.”
“The graphics: they are pretty much as simple as you can get, with the world being made up of solid-colored blocks and an occasional painting on the walls.”
“So the production quality is horrendous: the menu is barely usable and doesn't tell you what the settings do, the settings aren't accessible from the pause menu, the graphics are nonexistent, the sound is a single looping thing that's probably royalty-free, you can go out of bounds and fall in inescapable holes, and my computer still somehow struggles to run it.”
- music10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The music in the game has been widely criticized for being poor and unfit for the gameplay, with many players opting to mute it entirely or replace it with their own music. Reviewers noted that the limited and repetitive soundtrack detracts from the overall experience, with some even suggesting that silence would be preferable to the existing tracks. Overall, the audio aspect is considered lackluster and fails to enhance the game's appeal.
“Some custom levels have custom music!”
“Sound-wise, the music just straight up sucks. I can't pretend it's good; it's just really bad. I shut it off very quickly and turned it back on to hear each area, and it just doesn't fit at all. The sounds for completing puzzles are satisfying, but that's about all the game has going for it in the audio department. Very lackluster compared to its gameplay.”
“The music and graphics are gratingly awful to the point that they impede gameplay, and the central mechanic of the game, manipulation of words, in no way requires or even complements a mazelike non-Euclidean map.”
“For the graphics and music, even an absence of any effort would be preferable to what we got.”
- humor9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by clever wordplay, self-mocking presentation, and amusing surprises that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone and the joy of solving intricate puzzles, often leading to moments of laughter at both the game's ingenuity and their own missteps. The combination of thematic elements and humorous challenges contributes to a fun and engaging atmosphere.
“We had a great time deducing the rules, laughing at clever wordplay and themed rooms, and puzzling over phonetic riddles.”
“The presentation feels a bit humorous, as if it's mocking itself for being a bit silly.”
“Lingo is one of the most intuitive metroidvania games I have ever played, and every ah-ha moment left me laughing and smiling, half at the ingenuity of the puzzle and half at my own stupidity for not thinking of it sooner!”
- emotional5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report that the game evokes strong emotions, delivering unexpected bursts of joy and a sense of intellectual accomplishment. Despite its simplistic graphics, the engaging story and community support enhance the overall emotional experience, making it a standout title that surprises and resonates with players.
“I can't say much else without too many spoilers, but this game genuinely made me feel emotions and rare, potent bursts of serotonin I absolutely did not expect from a game with a crappy PNG face as a logo.”
“I've never played a game that's simultaneously made me feel like such a galaxy-brain genius and such a fool, tripping around with my shoes untied.”
“This game made me feel smart for figuring it out; for the most part, the graphics didn't even bother me that much, but having a story with the visual packaging around this (think Talos Principle) would still go a long way to put this into the big crowd.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some endgame puzzles are well-crafted and rewarding, the exploration can feel tedious and annoying, particularly during scavenger hunts. Engaging with the community through Discord or streaming can alleviate some of the monotony, making the experience more enjoyable.
“The exploration tries to be interesting, but ends up tedious and annoying.”
“There are a few tedious scavenger hunts in the endgame, but there are also well-crafted endgame puzzles that really push your understanding of the rules, making the overall experience extremely satisfying.”
“I highly recommend joining the Discord, and I would also recommend streaming the game if you can. There are several members of the Discord who like to watch/join in, which makes these exploration moments much less tedious.”
- story3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game's story primarily revolves around the player's journey of solving puzzles and exploring new areas, lacking a deeper narrative. While players enjoy the challenge and feel a sense of accomplishment, many believe that a more developed story could enhance the overall experience, similar to titles like "The Talos Principle."
“The only story involved seems to be the story of you, the player, solving puzzles and discovering new areas.”
“This game, Lingo, made me feel smart for figuring it out. For the most part, the graphics didn't even bother me that much, but having a story with the visual packaging around this (think Talos Principle) would still go a long way to put this into the big crowd.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Overall, users note significant performance improvements in the game, although it still struggles with optimization due to the limitations of the Godot engine in handling large worlds. While some areas, like the hedge maze, may feel over-corrected, the enhancements have made a notable difference in gameplay experience.
“The performance has improved tremendously.”
“The game runs very poorly because the Godot engine is not very optimized for making large worlds like this one.”
“I would say the hedge maze may have been over-corrected, but the performance improvements are well and truly a game changer.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report a high level of stability, noting that they have not experienced any frame drops or glitches during gameplay.
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight that the game's strong design contributes to its surprising level of replayability, making it more engaging than initially expected.
“You wouldn't think this was the sort of game that had infinite replayability, but the design is just that strong!”
