While I always make a point to play a Christmas themed hidden object game, actual Christmas games are rarely a thing. At least, not well made Christmas games.
Light It Up is fascinating as a Christmas game, because in terms of game controls, it is flawed. The controls are mildly clunky, making the rare platforming moments potentially frustrating, especially since that is not a game mechanic I am normally into. And let’s not get into the occasional item glitches, or dialogue glitches.
On paper, considering the amount of (not game breaking) glitches I run into in a play session, and the clunky controls, this sounds like a game that would have rated poorly on Steam. However, it has not, instead having a rating of overwhelmingly positive.
And this is an interesting case study of what happens when a game is so well designed that a player can forgive its technical flaws. Even though I just said two paragraphs ago about the controls and glitches, I enjoyed this game. The game was full of charm that made me feel like I was playing through a Christmas special from my childhood.
The game revolves around the city of Bellflower which is full of anthropomorphized animals, with the main character, a ferret child by the name Bean. Bean’s father has traditionally put up Christmas lights around town every year, but has broken his leg while trying to put up Christmas lights on his house. He wheedles Bean into taking his place, promising to buy her the bike she has always wanted. So with a rope of lights in hand, Bean scampers off to “light up” the town.
If that summary sounds like the beginnings of a Christmas special… it is.
Everything from the homes to the characters invoke the specific cartoon style found in old fashion Christmas specials (think Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Little Drummer Boy). Even the story, dialogue and direction of the voice acting gives a sense that this is a Christmas special. A younger audience who may have never seen a Christmas special from the 1960s onwards might find the story cheesy or unrealistic, but if you have grown up with those specials, the plot (without spoilers) falls very nicely into that time period. The funniest thing about that though is that, that is just the cherry on top of this game.
Light It Up was advertised as a Christmas light decorating game. It is a decorating game, and even when the occasional visual glitches happen, it’s still a great decorating game. The controls in that aspect are actually really tight (though a better tutorial on resizing and tension on decorations would be helpful). Each level is designed to give players the satisfaction of decorating by making those levels start out looking dull, gloomy, gray and sometimes dark. As more and more lights are put on, everything seems to become more alive and cozy.
And this isn’t just lightening physics from the lights itself. @wereah, who had watched me play portions of this game noted that the skybox (the actual sky) seemed to get lighter as more decorations were added to the level. By the time you’re done, the level seems transformed.
It was a lot of fun, so much so that I didn’t mind restarting my game so I could show Were-Ah the beginning of the game. If I get to the climax of the game again, I may ask her to join me, I think she may enjoy that for no other reason than the Christmas special vibes.
This is a game I’m glad I decided to pick up. Besides being a lot of fun to play, it does give me food for thought on what makes a great game.
