Lilly Looking Through, by Geeta Games, can above all else be described as charming. It’s a fairly straightforward point-and-click puzzle adventure, allowing for easy entry and a comfortable, pleasant gameplay experience. As you play Lilly Looking Through, you control the titular protagonist, a young girl traversing beautifully hand-drawn environmental puzzles. Her goal is to track down and safely return her curious, but somewhat trouble-making younger brother, Row.

The animations of each character’s movements are adorable. They are further bolstered by a simple yet lovely soundtrack, and sparse but believable voice acting from what I believe is a brother-sister duo of actors. Visually speaking, Lilly Looking Through reminded me somewhat of Little Nightmares, though obviously with the horror elements removed. The game is cute at its core, and I think we could all benefit from filling our heads with something cute for a little while.

Unfortunately, though the illustrations and puzzles are gorgeous and the playable characters are adorable, they are rendered in two drastically different art styles that don’t always mesh. If anything, the charming nature of each of these individual aspects makes the mismatch stand out all the more. While I did mostly get used to it by the time I finished the game, it was certainly jarring at times, especially at first.

The puzzles offer a noticeable yet enjoyable difficulty curve, providing new challenges without being too steep. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out a rather glaring issue with some of the puzzles later in the game. When it comes to accessibility, they rely quite heavily on distinguishing between and mixing colors, which may pose troubling barriers to colorblind gamers.

Otherwise, while the hints mechanic offered by the game isn’t always that helpful in clarifying what you’re meant to do if you get stuck, I did find myself appreciating its presence a few times. Even without it, the puzzles may require some guesswork and trial and error, but you’re never truly punished for making mistakes. There are no mechanics attached to failure or “dying.” Not figuring something out simply means you’ll spend longer in the same spot, experimenting until you figure out what you’re supposed to be doing.

While some players may find this relative absence of consequences for errors lackluster, I found it a pleasant change of pace to unwind through spending some time in a gentler, kinder gaming environment. Admittedly, the story is rather on the sparse or even unclear side. This isn’t an enormous loss as the environments you traverse and the core puzzling mechanics are usually enjoyable enough to make up for it. However, just one or two additional cinematic sequences could have added some interesting depth.

For instance, the game’s Steam description might vaguely tell you that one of the core mechanics — which I loved, by the way — requires the use of magic goggles to see different landscapes in the present and past. Yet there’s nothing in the game itself that tells you this. Sure, you can probably figure it out, and I eventually did, but it would have been a fun way to better ground that mechanic in the story, and utilize it more effectively.

Overall, Lilly Looking Through was a visually delightful, aurally comfortable space in which to unwind. I completely recommend it to anyone looking for an easy-entry place to decompress. In truth, I was enjoying myself enough that I can only say I wish it was longer. The ending feels a bit abrupt, as though it’s the end of a demo or the set-up for a sequel that hasn’t emerged. I finished the game itself in just over an hour. Being left wanting more might be a sign of a well-executed game, but only if there’s something more to look forward to. I, for one, will be keeping a hopeful eye out for a follow-up.

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Lilly Looking Through

$8.33

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Endearing gameplay and visuals
• Puzzles are creative but not punishing
• Beautiful soundtrack
• Simple and effective controls

Cons

• A bit on the short side
• Characters and background are not in the same art style
• Not very accessible to colour blind gamers