The Indie Informer

The retro-inspired, point-and-click adventure Lucy Dreaming is making its way onto the Switch today. So, I went hands-on with the title to see how the British humor and PC mechanics managed the migration. Happily, the game looks wonderful on Nintendo’s portable platform and uses some creative thinking to recreate the experience.

Going on a tangent for a second, Latin is a wonderful language. Though it boasts an array of beautiful poetry and interesting prose, one of the best things it offers is the ability to make even the most common-place phrase sound really academic. Etcetera literally means “and all the other things,” while circa gives people a smart-sounding alternative to “around.” So, to my Classically trained delight, I get to steal a piece of the ancient language for this write-up.

Lucy Dreaming starts in media res — or “in the middle of things” — with the titular hero plunging to her certain demise. But the protagonist herself clears the concern up, as she explains she’s only having a bad dream, and is really safe in her bed. Therefore, on waking, it’s my objective to halt this reoccurring nightmare.

Doing this requires gameplay familiar to the point-and-click genre. I have the option to interact with anything in my surroundings in four distinct ways. I can look at, pick up, talk to, or use anything I rest my crosshairs on. While this is all pretty straightforward with a mouse and keyboard, the Switch’s more restrictive format is a hurdle the team easily cleared.

To pick between options, I click the shoulder buttons, and I control the cursor with the right joystick. It’s not as easy as it would be with a PC setup, but it’s a serviceable system that doesn’t get in my way. Like most games in the genre, I wander through the world picking up odd items which can combine with others to solve environmental puzzles. As the game goes on, however, that world gets increasingly bizarre.

One of my earliest tasks is to retrieve the key to my diary, which is being guarded by my pet piranha. Some fish food on the desk proves useful and the unlocked tome leads me to new objectives. As I explore the house, I appreciate all the understated humor typically served up through the character’s dry commentary. My family member’s unique personalities unfold as I look over all the dwelling’s hunting trophies and examine the chalk outline of my brother’s ex-hamster.

If you are a fan of the game, or are looking to dive into a new point-and-click title you can take on the go, Lucy Dreaming‘s pixelated Switch release might be worth picking up.