LUNA The Shadow Dust

Developer: Lantern Studio | Publisher: Coconut Island Games, Application Systems Heidelberg | Release Date: 2020 | Genre: Indie/ Point & Click Adventure / Puzzle | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Luna The Shadow Dust is a charming point-and-click adventure that features a young boy and his adorable cat-like companion making their way up a mysterious tower. The developers have opted for “wordless storytelling” with this game, but it is clear that something has gone wrong, and the boy must reach the top of the tower to set things right. While the lack of dialog might frustrate some players, it definitely preserves the magical and mysterious atmosphere of the game.

Starting at the bottom of the tower, you must guide the two unique characters as they make their way upward, room by room. Initially, you only control the boy, but a cute, round, cat-like creature soon joins him. The cat isn’t capable of operating machinery like the boy, but it is still an invaluable help when it comes to solving the puzzles. Its small stature and ability to reach spots inaccessible to the boy means you’ll frequently need to split the two up to overcome obstacles. Veteran point-and-click adventure fans who still remember the Goblins series by Coktel Vision should be familiar with this style of puzzle-solving. However, Luna is a lot more streamlined and simplified compared to the classic point & click adventure games.

The game features a very uncluttered user interface, allowing players to soak in the atmosphere and appreciate the detailed visuals. Not only is everything meticulously detailed, but all of the visuals are hand-animated, too. Lantern Studio managed to cram in more than 250 animations and it shows. The art style of Luna has a bit of a Studio Ghibli feel, but at the same time, the game also has its own unique style. Although you make your way through plenty of rather mundane locations, such as a kitchen, garden, library, and music room, the art style ensures that it never feels boring. Not only does the game have its own alphabet, but plenty of murals in the background depict the game world’s history. It’s these kinds of small details that make the world feel more alive. Also, there are a lot of gorgeous cinematics that drive the story forward without the need for words.

Most of the adventure takes place inside the mysterious tower, but there are also a few sections where players get to explore some outside locations. These sections are equally as fascinating, and we would love to see future titles from Lantern Studio set in this world. The puzzles in Luna start relatively simple, but the higher you go in the tower, the more complex they become. Your goal is always the same, which is to unlock the door that will allow you to access the next section of the tower.

Thankfully each new section is self-contained, so you never need to worry about backtracking down the tower in case you missed something. Luna also foregoes point-and-click staples, such as an inventory or list of actions you can perform. Instead, everything you need to solve a puzzle is usually nearby and only requires you to push buttons, flip switches, activate contraptions, or push and pull things. The cat critter also has a neat shadow form that is necessary for some puzzles, and you even get to manipulate time and seasons in some sections of the tower. There’s no way to do something wrong or get into serious trouble, so you are free to take your time with the game.

While the interface is very straightforward, the puzzle will leave some players scratching their heads. There are always plenty of clues to point you in the right direction, but you must pay attention to your surroundings. Initially, your two characters stick pretty close together, but towards the end of the game, you often have to send them to separate rooms to manipulate items. We were stumped a few times but managed to progress through the game without pulling out too much of our hair, and cracking the puzzles is immensely satisfying.

The soundtrack of Luna The Shadow Dust perfectly matches the gorgeous visuals. It delivers soothing sounds during the puzzle sections while ramping up the tempo during the cinematics. Some of our favorite tracks include the clock-like beat of “Light and Dark” and the choir-like sounds of “The Time Traveler.” The game does not feature any type of voice-acting, and the sound effects are also somewhat subdued, but once again, it fits Luna’s style.

Anyone expecting a traditional point-and-click adventure might be a bit disappointed as it does not feature any type of inventory, item gathering, or talking to non-player characters. There are also not a million different things to click on to see what funny reaction or response your characters give. Instead, you have a streamlined adventure that feels like an escape room puzzle inside a mysterious tower. Your mouse pointer changes as soon as it is over, something that you can interact with, but as far as we could gather, there is no way to highlight all the hotspots in a room. If we had to nitpick even further, the slow walking speed of the characters could be an annoyance for more impatient players. However, there is really not much else that we can fault about Luna The Shadow Dust, and we thoroughly enjoyed the five or so odd hours that it took us to reach the top of the tower.

If you are a fan of point-and-click adventures and don’t mind giving your brain a bit of a workout, then you’ll love Luna The Shadow Dust. We also highly recommend grabbing the beautiful art book, which is sold separately. It is filled with 124 pages of original artwork and hand-drawn sketches, as well as plenty of neat insights about the game’s creation.