For Your (Wishlist): Lost Twins II
Abi and Ben's tale is sure to warm your heart in 2024
“Lost Twins 2 is an incredibly cute puzzle adventure that will challenge, entertain and maybe even inspire you. Guide Abi and Ben on their journey to find a way back home across a whimsical polygonal playground crafted with an enormous amount of care. Is the mystical Fenghuang leading them home or steering them down a rabbit hole?” (From Steam)
I discovered Lost Twins II in February this year during the first Steam Next Fest of 2024. It had ‘puzzle’ and ‘cozy’ in the product tags and an intriguing-looking capsule image, which is all it takes for me these days to click on something. (That’s not far from the truth, either.)
Playdew is a Pakistani games studio, and their mission statement has them striving “to make games that challenge, entertain and inspire players. We aim to prove that great games and studios can come from anywhere in the world and in the process inspire the next generation of Pakistani creatives.” Their first game was Explottens for Apple Arcade before turning to Lost Twins II. They also have another Explottens in the works, titled Rise of K.L.A.W.
But what about Lost Twins II should earn it a spot on your wishlist? First, the dreamy, Ghibli-inspired art. It’s incredible. The animation was gorgeous and the gameplay is easy to pick up and understand. You play as twins Ben and Abi, on a quest to make it back home through various levels where they must work together to solve puzzles to move on. A mysterious Fenghuang is your constant companion, but whether he’s there to help you or lead you astray is the question (that wasn’t answered in the demo).
You weren’t just going from point A to B in a straight line in Lost Twins II, which I thought was extremely clever. By matching doors and exits from other areas, you could create an entirely different layout and make it easier to bridge the gap between the twins.
There’s no release date yet for Lost Twins II, other than sometime this year. In addition to Steam, the game will come to Xbox as part of the ID@Xbox program. You can still play the demo now on Steam!
