Lost in Random is a game that belongs to the rather niche category of projects that offer a linear adventure to keep you busy for an evening or two. For me, it has become a breath of fresh air among all the open-world games that offer 200+ hours of gameplay to complete a playthrough.
Developed by Zoink and published by EA, it simultaneously resembles works of Tim Burton and American McGee’s Alice dilogy. From the very first minutes the project immerses you in a dark adventure set in an unusual world created by Ryan North, the author of Adventure Time. The game as a whole keeps to the spirit of a fairy tale, with the narrator accompanying us on this quest full of magic and obstacles that prevent you from facing the evil Black Queen, the one who has separated the main character from their sister.
This story takes players into a world called Random where absolutely everything and everyone obeys the Black Queen’s die roll. “Random rules!” says the main law of this world. The cube determines where the population of Random will be living and what it will be doing each day. Every 12-year-old child must roll the die to determine where they will spend the rest of their days: there are 6 cities in the world, each named according to the faces of the die, from the poorest Onecroft to the richest and most comfortable Sixtopia.
Our journey begins in Onecroft on one not-so-perfect day. The protagonist’s sister casts her die and gets assigned to Sixtopia. After some time, our heroine Even meets the ghost of her sister in her dreams and, confident that her sibling needs help, runs away from home. Her search will take her through all cities of Random in the company of a living cube named Dicey.
Each city we visit has its own unique characteristics. For example, Two-Town is divided into two parts and so are its inhabitants with their two prominent personalities that swap each day and each night. I will point out a certain drawback right away: despite being gorgeous, the locations are both linear and terribly confusing at the same time.
In-game map doesn’t really save the situation, only allowing you to determine certain landmarks and only the very approximate location. As a result, from time to time you are likely to encounter situations that will have you running around in circles without understanding how to proceed forward. Additionally, I am a big fan of various secrets hidden in the locations, but Lost in Random has only so much to offer, mostly pots with coins and album pages.
After escaping from Onecroft, the protagonist finds playing cards and meets Dicey, the central pillars from the battle system from then on. You will have to fight a variety of robots but they will always follow the same general scenario. In particular, you will need to dodge attacks while being stuck on a narrow arena and use slingshot to fire at the enemies’ weak points to collect energy for your cards. After you have collected enough energy and called for Dicey, the game will slow time and give you a chance to pick the cards you want to use among the attacking (such as the bow, sword or bombs) or support (healing potion, shield, take extra card).
This is the cycle that you will be going through until you run out of enemies. As such, battles can drag on for a long time since the weapon discharges relatively fast and you get tired of fighting monsters two waves in. Yes, fairy tales’ protagonists don’t have it easy, but sometimes it feels like too much.
The variety of opponents is not exactly great, either, with only 6 types to speak of through the entirety of the game. Over time the situation improves somewhat as you get more cards and create a powerful deck that fits your playstyle but the first third of the game you can only brace yourself. Especially if you manage to croak closer to the end of one of those endless fights since it will force you to start it anew.
The good-natured merchant Manny Dex will offer you a variety of cards to finish your deck. When the scale on the right is fully filled, the vendor will offer three different packs of cards that will be added to the assortment – attacking, defensive and auxiliary. The pack contents are randomized, for example two attacking and a defensive or maybe three different sets at once. Remember, “Random rules!”.
Although the battles can quickly tire you out and the card system can seem cumbersome, the brightest side of the game is its plot and characters that move it. Almost any NPC you meet can offer something to the heroine, an expression of their character or a bit of charming madness. And sometimes you will even get a small quest for the sake of a handful of coins that can be later used to buy more cards.
The story of the game urges you on, overcoming a great number of boring fights. All of that is accompanied by a catchy soundtrack and awesome visuals. The style reminded me of puppet shows and the designs reflect the hand behind Adventure Time. I can’t help but note solid optimization which is becoming more and more rare as of late.
Note: the game is a verified purchase by the author.
