Console Corner: Review of Lost Words: Beyond the Page

I'm the parent of seven and five-year olds—at least as of the writing of this post. And we sometimes game together. We've played and recommend Never Alone, Far: Lone Sails, Figment, and The Unfinished Swan. (These are games that I recommend for small children, games that require them to use their brains in interesting ways). When I saw Sketchbook's Lost Words: Beyond the Page, I could feel it was a game to add to that list. We've since played it, and yes, the instinct was real.

First and foremost, Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a game designed for children somewhere in the 5-9 age range—the age when they are learning to read. It is not a game for adults. I repeat, it is not a game for adults. (I repeat because I have seen at least two reviews which criticize the game for being simple.) When boiled to a skeleton, Lost Words is a single-player puzzle platformer which most often uses words to solve puzzles.

Players take on the role of Izzy, a young girl whose grandmother is aging and near death. Bored one day, Izzy starts writing a story in her journal. She doesn't know where to start, but soon enough, one idea follows another and it starts to snowball. Before she knows it, she's inside her own fantasy land, Estoria, trying to solve the mystery of why the fireflies disappeared. Progress impeded by various objects, water, and missing platforms, Izzy must use her ever-growing book of spells to solve the puzzles. Her book of spells in fact single words (open, raise, etc.), players must not only recognize the puzzle, but the word needed to solve the puzzle.

Above I repeated that Lost Words is for children. But there were times I commented to myself that the game is in fact more mature than many books which have adults as their target audience. (Sex and blood do not by default make something 'adult'.) While Izzy's grandmother's passing plays a major role in the game, the icons of fantasy we are so familiar with—dragons, sorceresses, etc.—are deployed in non-standard, mature fashion. These classic items from fantasy literature speak in simple words, but the message is perennial, and most often beyond good and evil.

I've described Izzy's adventure in her own land, but the other significant portion of the game is being in Izzy's journal. Most often this is words cascading across the screen, but many are the time that players must 'click-n-drag' words around. Sometimes this is a single word, and others it is multiple choice. This choice may be based in emotions or mood, but it can also allow the player to choose a direction in the story, or even just naming something. Regardless, this personalization of the game made my children find themselves deeper in the story.

In the end, Lost Words is the perfect game for the little person in your family who has grasped letters, knows some words, and is now piecing together phrases and sentences. It goes without saying the game is extremely family friendly, and contains a story most people can get behind, i.e. a young girl dealing with loss, exploring the possibilities and value of her own imagination, and learning how writing/keeping a journal can be invaluable.* My son and I highly recommend Lost Words: Beyond the Page, and I know in a year or two, so too will my daughter.

*For those who care, the story of Lost Words was written by Rhianna Pratchett, Terry Pratchett's daughter. Do not mistake this to mean Lost Words is a Discworld sequel. The daughter walks her own path. But a large portion of the game does take place in a fantasy world. There is a dragon. And surely some of ol' dad's storytelling gumption rubbed off over the years. I think “Joe Hill” has at least equaled his dad in terms of style, so I'm curious what will become of Rhianna Pratchett in a few years' time. Lost Words offers good hope.