Lost Words: Beyond the Pages Review

Lost Words: Beyond the Pages, made by Sketchbook Games for PC and consoles, Is the newest in interactive storytelling games. I personally enjoyed my time with Lost Words and in the following paragraphs I will highlight what to expect, as well as what I loved while playing this game.

The gameplay revolves around the main character Izzy’s journal as well as the main character of the story she is writing. The goal of the journal parts is to navigate Izzy through each page; interacting and solving some simple puzzles along the way. The puzzles themselves are fairly easy and intuitive; perfectly designed for the younger audience Lost Words was made for. When you get to the storybook portions, things will be more traditional of a puzzle platformer. The main character, who you will get a chance to name and design, will move from left to right across the world; solving puzzles and listening to the narration along the way. Also of note is, as you go about your journey, you will have the ability to shape other aspects of the story as well; giving the player the ability to make the story uniquely their own. This is Interactive storytelling at it’s finest. It’s ability to enrich the experience and foster creativity in those who play it is greatly appreciated. The world itself is full of life and interactions. If you wanted to know what it’s like to play a story book rather than read one then Lost Words has you covered in a wholly immersive and seamless way.

The art style of Lost Words is lovely and reminds me of my school days when I’d check out the scholastic book fair. It ranges from simple pencil drawings to full on water colours. It’s easy on the eyes and blends in perfectly with the theme of exploring someones journal. As you read on and play through each page you will notice the voice acting. This is another highlight of Lost Words. It’s high quality stuff and well directed as is the music that accompanies it. In fact I’d say for such a simple game with not too much going for it, lost pages pulls out all the stops to make sure what it does have is amazing. The whole experience is engaging and and wonderful to play through. If you wanted a game to introduce your child to the wonderful world of reading or just games in general I’d highly recommend Lost Words. Heck I’d even recommend it to adults looking for a nice relaxing evening as the whole game is roughly four hours to complete and really knows how to melt the stress of a long day away. The Author, Rhianna Pratchett, will be on my radar from now on I guarantee that. It’s just that good a story.

I give Lost Words an A. It may not be what one would expect from traditional gaming but it delivers it’s vision so beautifully it’s hard to ignore it’s presence and have fun experiencing what it has to offer.