Little Orpheus

Dragon’s Lair by way of Rice-Burroughs and the Cold War

A lovely and memorable game, with a great story, excellent art, and wonderful music, sound and voice acting. Utterly worth experiencing. That said, there’s not a lot for the player to do. Like “Dragon’s Lair” 35 years ago, gameplay largely boils down to clicking the right button at the right moment, with the occasional “which way do I go next” puzzle thrown in for good measure. Playing on an iPad without a separate controller can be a frustrating experience, as the touchscreen controls are sometimes finicky, and you’ll rapidly come to expect a particularly challenging/frustrating sequence that heralds the end of an episode. Fortunately, it’s easy to step away when frustration mounts and return the next day exactly where you left off. Overall, “Little Orpheus” is an excellent experience, albeit a middling game from a purely gaming perspective. It’s well worth playing for the story’s sake, and for the top-notch production values. I hope the designers will take it as a compliment that I wish I could’ve immersed myself more deeply and actively in the world(s) they created.

Great to worst

I want to say this is THE very best game in the app store...period. I want to say that. Then I get to episode 5 and I have a issue making a jump. I learn later I needed to open a clam shell. In doing so I tried Xbox controller and the experience connected to my Mac computer was terrible. I ran into opening clam shell on accident, cleared chapter and now am back to enjoying game. I tell this story for two reasons: the development on touch screen I find far better and more compelling even though game in beginning recommends controller, I don't. And the second reason is that some moments are not clear what to do because the developers likely made it that way on purpose to offer a puzzle challenge in that moment. Don't give up, if a game mechanic isn't working in my experience it is because there is another solution...find it. You will not regret it as I do think this is still the very best game in the app store, not perfect but the story telling with the visuals as you move with the game is the very best I have ever seen in this touch environment!

A true gem

I loved this game. Period. The storytelling was phenomenal, the voice acting was top notch, the music, wonderful, the artwork and graphics were excellent. The gameplay was super fun and glitch free. Like other reviews have said, the only complaint I have is with the controls. I had a hard time controlling the character, mostly when running and jumping simultaneously or trying to interact with an object, such as the movable stones or to flip the switches in the various levels. Other than that, the game is just a truly fun experience that lasted more than a few hours. I was kind of bummed when it was over but that last level trying to defeat the last big character frustrated me so much because I couldn’t jump when I was trying to and kept having to start over, so I was ready to quit. I played nonstop all the way through and highly recommend giving it a try. It reminded me of Stela with the gorgeous scenery and similar gameplay. Definitely worth 5 stars. Fix the controls and it will be perfect.

Great Game

This is an amazing video game, definitely my favorite video game I have ever played. One small thing didn’t work for me though. In episode 2, kind of close to the end of this episode i think, there was a part where I had to push a metal thing so I could use it to jump onto a ledge. I tried the interact control (tap and click) but it wouldn’t work. I thought maybe that wasn’t part of the puzzle so I watched a walkthrough video to be sure. The person did exactly everything I had done up until that point but then they were able to move the thing, even though I wasn’t, and I was using the right control. I don’t know if this is just a personalized glitch on the phone I’m using or something else, but if you could help/give me feedback on how to fix this, that would be great! Again this is an awesome game, I definately recommend it, and thank you to The Chinese Room for making it!

Tune in and play this exciting episode…

This is great fun. It’s simple to pick up and get into. The controls are straightforward and pretty reliable. The presentation is exceptional. From the lighthearted story to feeling like an early episodic TV series. I played through the first episode and the progression is fair. You’ll have to retry a few sections but the game is very fair about dropping you back close to where to failed. This is definitely a Limbo type game but with it’s own style and charm. The voice acting is fun and is beautifully handled as mostly background to your play. It’s refreshing to keep the focus on the gameplay (as many other games force you to stop to read endless text or listen to lines of pointless dialogue). It looks beautiful (amazing at times) and the audio perfectly accompanies the action. With the graphics having obvious RGB offsets, I wonder if it’s supposed to also support old-style red/blue 3D glasses. I have a pair and it does kind look that way. Intentional?

Maximum positive rating!

Comrade, I realize that you, like me, have little patience for unbelievable stories, so I will not bore you with useless details. Simply put, the Little Orpheus game is a magnificent triumph of Soviet bravery, creativity, and storytelling. With simple controls, this is an easy game to master. Most of the puzzles are obvious and easy to solve, so you can keep the game story moving along. There are a few challenging puzzles to keep it interesting, and each segment has at least one chase scene that may require some higher level of timing and synchronization. The game is forgiving in that you restart from a recent point, not back at the beginning. The story, wonderfully narrated, is interesting and quite humorous. It really moves the game along. The music is lively and fun, especially the lead-in music. The depicted environments are amazing, and the backgrounds are stunningly beautiful. If you play through all of the chapters of the game, you’ll unlock a bonus chapter that is a bit more difficult than the preceding chapters. Once you’ve unlocked all the chapters, you can replay each chapter for rewards that give insight to the game’s development. In addition, you can unlock a variety of skins for your hero. This is a great game! It’s the type of game that so involves you that you hate to put it down. Another winner for the Apple Arcade family of games!

Love graphic, game play, that’s all I wanted!

Few months ago I tried Apple Arcade free months trial. During that time I just didn’t find some fine games to play. That time the games were too “unedited, or little effortless” compared to other fine games on app store. Than after 2020 WWDC, I received a email from apple that says I can use Apple Arcade free another month. So I subscribed this again. Then I found this game and other good games like Mosaic. It feels like apple arcade have found the it’s own merit after some time. This game is simply amazing. I often thought that I wish have game about adventure, good graphic design for 2020, and interesting story line to concentrate. This game is definitely filling this needs perfectly. That means this game is worth to be played definitely. I wish to see more games like this. Nicely done Chinese Room.

Wow! Fantastic game

I played it on both Mac and iPad (it has iCloud cross-save), and man… this is probably the best game on the whole Arcade (well, I mean… there's of course this colorful bikes game from the very beginning of the Arcade thingy). These were the only games I actually beat. Orpheus's story is absolutely hillarious, very, very well voiced over, and I mean… you just have to listed to it, all while playing the game. The game mechanics itself is basically a normal platformer, with a few twists here and there. I normally don't like platformers because they eventually become way over my head with all the exact timing and stuff required. This one, however, is very forgiving, and still challenging to the degree you don't feel like keep pressing the forward button will get you to the end no probs. Very nice balance. And the graphics!! Wow that's something! Very colorful, extremely unique levels, great animations and effects - this is insane to see this level of artwork on well… Apple Arcade platform (I mean hey… it really IS rare) And the storytelling… man… (oops sorry, but it's so good I had to mention it twice :) Get it! I mean. You already have Arcade, so just get it, give it a go. It's not too long, but not too short. JUST. RIGHT. Everything about this game is JUST. RIGHT.

GREAT FUN...UNTIL THE GLITCH

UPDATE: The developer was very responsive (Marijam Didžgalvytė to be specific) and I can now progress in this delightfully witty and sly game. The scene I was stuck on does take some effort to complete, but at last I can move on with joy having finished that leg of the journey. Thanks to the Little Orpheus team. ========== I am really enjoying this game. The humorous verbal interplay between the Russian general and the astronaut is clever and sly. The gameplay is not too easy or too hard. The graphics are beautiful. All was well until the 18% completion point in the game. The glitch is that the bridge you must walk across to continue keeps retracting so there is no way forward. Online videos made some time ago show the fireball at the left of the screen but in my gameplay it can only be moved to the right and not back again. I've emailed the developers. However, other than the stock email acknowledging my request, there has been no reply to my first or subsequent request. There was an update to the game about a week ago and I wonder if this caused the glitch. Either way, I'd like to continue with the game and would appreciate a fix or response from the developers.

Amazing game, terrible slowdown

This game is awesome! Like a modern day out of this world with amazing graphics! The one problem I’m having is that I’m not able to play the game for more than a couple of seconds on an iPhone XS without the performance tanking. It would also be helpful to have an easily accessible menu option with pause and graphics options. Will give it five stars as soon as it gets those things. UPDATE:Performance was based on phone temperature. I have a screen protector, Apple battery case and the brightness turned up to max and it turns into a slide show. I guess that’s to be expected so I will give it five stars. But in the future please make graphics options so that way I can turn them down without my phone turning into lava.

... Sumo Digital. Since then they've scaled up considerably, releasing lush platformer Little Orpheus in 2020. ... Limited. � 2023 Gamer Network...

Rock Paper Shotgun Sat Sep 23 2023

... Little Orpheus. We strive to spin worlds, sculpt characters and ... The Chinese Room is part of the award-winning Sumo Digital family of studios.

Games Press Fri Jun 23 2023

... Little Orpheus. Last month, the studio announced Still Wakes the ... These include Sumo Digital, The Chinese Room, Red Kite Games, Pipeworks...

Game World Observer Sun Jul 23 2023

“When The Chinese Room joined Sumo Digital in 2018, part of that was ... While developing Little Orpheus with a team of 20, TCR began scaling...

TheGamer Sat Sep 23 2023

A screenshot of 'Little Orpheus', a Sumo game � Sumo ... Tencent Holdings Ltd � Tencent sales...

Financial Times Fri Jul 23 2021

Even the global COVID-19 crisis didn't prevent the release of its first game since the Sumo acquisition: Little Orpheus, which launched on Apple...

GamesIndustry.biz Thu Jul 23 2020

... Little Orpheus, WST Snooker and Hood. Related topics. Financials Sumo Digital Ltd ... Limited. � 2023 Gamer Network Limited, Gateway House, 28 The...

GamesIndustry.biz Fri Oct 23 2020

“Little Orpheus” by Sumo Digital/The Chinese Room "; The Artful ... “Enter The Construct" by Directive Games Limited; “Beyond a Steel Sky” by...

Collider Tue Apr 23 2019