Lamplight City

Lamplight City is a detective adventure with a lot of good ideas, but it executes them with too light a touch.

Lamplight City offers an intriguing set of mysteries and stands as a great throwback to titles like Monkey Island and Sierra's Gabriel Knight series. The cases aren't especially taxing, but the well-realized setting and characters add plenty of flavor and help the game feel like something more than the sum of its parts. Fans of classic adventure games should definitely give Lamplight City a look.

The Nintendo Switch port of Lamplight City is a compelling graphic adventure mystery.

Lamplight City is a point and click adventure that tries a novel approach with regards to its exploration, as the player can take the main events in any order and is allowed to fail specific objectives as the game's very flexible plot will adapt to such choices. In that regard, as well as its attractive art style, Lamplight City is an interesting game. Its puzzles suffer from a level of difficulty that ends up making them too simplistic though, and as such the challenge can get too repetitive but it nonetheless remains a game very much worth exploring.

Like many of the adventure puzzle games after which it's patterned, Lamplight City comes across as a bit lackluster in both story and presentation. Retro adventure gamers may enjoy working their way through it, but I wouldn't bank on it.

As a fan of both classic adventure titles and games with a unique sense of time and place, Lamplight City is an easy layup for me in some regards...

Lamplight City has given me an appetite for more detective work, and for more work by Grundislav Games designer Francisco Gonzalez. Both the story and puzzles are well-written. Variant endings make the game even more interesting, though there’s little reason to replay if you get the best endings on the first try. I recommend the game not only to genre fans but also to players who don’t usually play point-and-click adventures (or any games at all). Just be forewarned that the game contains mature themes and is darker than the 12+ age rating suggests. The game is great for handheld play. The font is legible even on the Switch Lite. While there are touchscreen controls, Joy-Con controls are much more precise.

Overall I liked Lamplight City, but I just felt a little disappointed. Sure the atmosphere and characters were great, and the story was fine for the most part, but looking at it critically it doesn’t do what it sets out to. You might get some enjoyment for the $14.99 this game normally costs. I really hope the developers expand on this idea more in the future, because I feel like it has a lot of potential. The issue is just that it falls a little flat in its execution. If you’re a fan of point-and-click games then I definitely recommend that you pick this one up. If you’re not a fan, I don’t think this is really going to change your mind.

In Lamplight City, you aren't led around from room to room, clickity-clicking your way to success. For the most part, logic and reason are at play. Brush up on those skills, and you will find your way. Take your time, enjoy the well-themed music and ambiance, enjoy the story, solve the crimes, and for goodness' sake, listen to Bill.

Well-written detective story from single developer is good enough for adventure fans.