Lenrual

[b]TLDR[/b] A surreal, but oddly charming exploration puzzler with unique ideas and atmosphere, light on actual puzzles and very short. [14/20⭐, 3h🏅, 2/5💡] [b]Context[/b] Lenrual is a surreal exploration-puzzle game built around interacting with strange creatures through line-drawing mechanics, loosely framed around the idea of reaching some form of “awakening” through community. Most of the time, I had little idea what I was doing — or why — but it still manages to be an interesting, if somewhat elusive, experience. [b]Writing[/b] The game takes place in a nighttime town, where you play as an undefined entity interacting with creatures going about their evening routines — though all of them seem have trouble communicating. The narrative is entirely abstract, with no written dialogue or explicit storytelling. To progress toward “awakening,” you engage with a variety of surreal figures, such as guy-preparing-cosmic-cakes, floating-hand-serving-drinks, or seaweed-singing-heads. As night passes, the game transitions into dreamlike sequences that push the surrealism even further. As you reach higher levels of awakening, you begin to discern (oddly detailed, for the context) paintin…

Lenrual is a short and unconventional puzzle adventure that places discovery ahead of constant instruction. Developed and published by Jonathan Guite, it presents a compact open environment where an ordinary evening gradually develops into something far stranger. Rather than relying on traditional quest markers or a rigid sequence of objectives, the experience encourages players to wander, investigate suspicious details, speak with unusual inhabitants, and experiment with the environment until its underlying rules begin to make sense. The small scale of the world works particularly well with this approach. Instead of filling a huge map with disposable activities, Lenrual creates an area that players can gradually memorize. A location or object that appears meaningless during the first few minutes may become important after discovering another clue elsewhere. Revisiting familiar places with new information becomes an essential part of progression, giving exploration a satisfying sense of purpose despite the game's relatively brief duration. Puzzles are intentionally cryptic, and the game offers very little hand-holding. Solving its mysteries often depends on observation and experi…

This is a small, at first intentionally confusing exploration puzzle / metroidbrainia game, played from a first person perspective with no narration. You meet aliens; to say more would probably be a spoiler. Even the trailer technically has spoilers. If you like this type of game, you will probably like this one! I found it on the metroidbrainia subreddit where there was some discussion if it qualified, but I think it does (some discussion below under a spoiler tag). I took about two and a half hours to get all achievements and the credits roll (and a few additional minutes to tweak the controller setup - see below). I don't think I figured out everything, though I probably did figure out most things. It is VERY atmospheric. I loved hanging out in this place and slowly figuring out what was going on. The atmosphere was the strongest part of the game, some of it was just genuinely beautiful and touching to a degree I did not expect. Some of the earlier reviews say there is no save system, but this has since then been added (and I really do think that was a good decision). It autosaves! Don't press the save icon in the main menu, because that actually deletes your save. (I don't t…

In Lenrual they don't say "How are you?" they say: "🔼◀️🔼▶️▶️🔽" and I think that's beautiful.

Lenrual is a lovely puzzle game about navigating the underworld? It's very cryptic and implied and figuring out what to do usually is more of a puzzle than actually doing it but that's where the fun lies! Plus it's weird and pretty... if short! Pros: -It's a beautiful game (Uses low end graphics with clever design to make it look spectacular. Dingy stone buildings of the city with gold neon that pops, some areas can be quite ornate, incredible ghost design where some are cute, some are elegant, some are funny. The astral effect is great too... at worst some areas are dingy without the neon lights) -Nice whimsical musical accents but usually you'll be hearing the crowds (You are in a crowded ghost city after all). Thus it's mysterious but in a non-sinister way -Lovely and cryptic (Mechanically the puzzles are simple but figuring out what to actually do has enough challenge to be satisfying). You should be able to figure it out though... don't worry -The light up ghost board is a lovely interactive element (Use it to draw patterns and talk to ghosts... closest thing the game has to a HUD) -Incredibly creative, fit for purpose in its short length Maybes: -Very imp…

Short, confusing, and very cool!