Game Review: Pico Lake
- Title: Pico Lake
- Developer: Pavilion
- BBS Link: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=pavilion_picolake_1-0
- Release Date: 2021-07-03
- Genres: Point and Click Adventure
Pico Lake is a point and click adventure that tells the story of a man looking for his phone. Throughout the game, you will navigate fixed-scene areas and interact with various objects to progress the story. There is no overarching guidance beyond finding your phone.
What I Liked
I felt that the graphics made good use of the palette and the animations were smooth. I enjoyed each of the scenes that you visit in the story, and they had enough detail to encourage interaction. The story also had a bit of humor to it, especially toward the ends.
What I Liked Less
I did feel that too many of the interactions that progressed the story were random. The links between each interaction were strong in some cases, but were weak in too many. I felt that the game required you to revisit a location that most players would have assumed was cleared, for example.
The control scheme for Look, Get, Use, and Talk is also a bit clunky.
Thoughts for Version 2
If the developer were to take a stab at enhancing it, I would recommend adding some ambient music. A, “Walk & Click,” game benefits from immersive atmosphere, so sound effects and ambient music will really help out.
Additionally, I would consider merging the Look, Get, and Use actions into two. When, “Looking,” if the character sees an item of potential importance, maybe just prompt the player to subsequently add that item to inventory, rather than have the player use a second, “get,” action.
Final Verdict
Play or Pass? Play