Ever wanted to play a cute platformer? Wished for a platformer to use something new? A game surrounded by the use of a hat? Adventure Lamp, developed and published by Ryan Davis, is for you!
Steam: Released
Developer: Ryan Davis
Publisher: Ryan Davis
Genre: Bouncy Puzzle Platformer
Release Date: 15th of July, 2016
Type: Single-player
Lose Your Hat
In Adventure Lamp, you play as Simon equipped with a hat to accompany him throughout his journey. The game is built around the idea of losing your hat. But never fear, for the hat will always return to Simon’s head. Each time you jump the hat launches in the air higher than you, how high depending on how you make Simon jump. In addition, you can aim the arc the hat will travel, whether it be across a gap to hit a button or to set it down. The hat doesn’t just hit buttons though. Each level has a chance of a red enemy being included that can easily take you out in one hit. The one weapon you can defend yourself, even for a few seconds? Your hat. This addition of a hat easily sets apart Adventure Lamp from the other platformers.
Each level contains a new puzzle that builds off of the previous ones. Along with the overall chapters adding in a new mechanic unique to the chapter to mix up how you play. While Simon’s hat is constantly used to progress through puzzles, the game does switch it up some levels to make the hat cause havoc. From erasing your puzzle progress to activating a deadly weapon. This allows the difficulty progression to be constant, with a little spikes towards the end. I would be lying if I didn’t say I rage quit a couple times towards the end.
Performance
Adventure Lamp is not overly demanding and there’s a high chance it will easily run consistently. It also adds some options to turn off certain elements, such as menu and background movement, for the game to run more consistently or if the player prefers it.
The only weird thing about this is that a command prompt will open when launching the game through Steam. This is mostly to take care of a bug, but you can start without the command prompt by browsing for the application in local files.
Sound & Graphics
Adventure Lamp uses it’s simple backgrounds and foregrounds to invoke what each unique chapter brings. Each level has a simple looking design, harnessing a complex solution. Despite the simple design, this does not take away from the atmosphere.
The soundtrack is upbeat and cheerful throughout Adventure Lamp adding a lighthearted side to the otherwise gloomy overtone. Not going too overboard to where the soundtrack bothers the player, but enough to energize you to continue.
Replayability
There is surprisingly a lot of replayability in Adventure Lamp. While the main game may seem short depending on how skillful you are, there is a secret NewGame+ that will appear upon completion. NewGame+ adds two new side stories with the same levels. However, you play a different character with different mechanics. This adds more difficulty to otherwise easy puzzles as you need to learn how the new character moves and to use their own way to defeat enemies and press down buttons.
If you are an achievement hunter, Adventure Lamp also provides replayability in the achievements. Speed running the main game in 30 minutes and finishing using only the mouse is included with the achievements.
Overall
+Progression of difficulty
+Visually cute and charming
+Nice soundtrack
+Creativity used with the integration of the hat
+ Secret NewGame+
+/- Command prompt when launching
-Spending too much time aiming can cause Simon to move
-Hard to control precise movement with an analog stick
Adventure Lamp is truly a cute platformer that is fun to play despite how short it is. The simple graphics adds charm and the replayability adds to the experience. From the hat to the cheery soundtrack, it is hard not to highly recommend Adventure Lamp.
