Lucky Luna
Review

Lucky Luna (2022) is a running and jumping game without the jumping. You swipe the screen to dodge obstacles and use the environment to get around. As you explore the world you uncover secrets about the past like hidden temples, dungeons, and ancient mysteries. It's a familiar format made new by the unique way you move around and engage with the equally novel folklore-inspired narrative and puzzles.

You play Luna, a masked young girl who sets out on an adventure to uncover the secrets of her past. You explore different environments, going from dungeon to temple to open nature, avoiding traps and uncovering secrets. It's based on an ancient Japanese Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a coming-of-age story written in the late 9^th or early 10^th century.

As you can't jump, movement is reduced to walking or dashing in the direction you swipe on the screen. Levels start simple and involve dodging spikes that appear out of the ground by observing their patterns, but gradually get harder, requiring you to use different environmental features to succeed - like riding on the back of an enormous dragonfly or using water spouts to reach higher areas. Each section introduces new mechanics, then builds on them and makes you use them in conjunction with previously learned techniques.

The result is a game that challenges the typical norms of the platforming genres, inviting you to play in an alternative way that offers a unique movement challenge that requires practice and experimentation to master.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Lucky Luna 13 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 13 months ago.