Green Light review - " A too-simple puzzle adventure"

• Collect new words to complete dreams
• Flat characters
• Incredibly simple puzzles

Green Light is a new indie adventure experience from room6, in which you play as Midori, a girl who lives in a mining town with her parents. While the mines long ago dried up, there’s something special about this little town; each night, all the town’s residents share a single dream. 

Midori won’t remember much when she wakes up. However, she can piece the town’s dreams together by collecting dream shards from villagers.

Green Light Fixed Its Language Issue

Upon launching on mobile, Green Light had an issue with its English localisation. However, this has already been fixed. Should you want to change the language, simply go into settings at any time and tap either of the arrows below the two sliders.

Gameplay is rather simple. You walk around town talking to villagers and hotel guests. As you do, your special greenlight earring learns new words, which you can use while sleeping to complete dreams.

There are only four dreams for you to complete, as well as a prologue and epilogue, so the experience is rather short. As young Midori, you’ll experience fantasy, romance, and sci-fi dreams, as well as a climactic Endless dream.

Green Light Features Super Easy Puzzles

Every so often, during a dream, a blank space will appear. When you interact with it, you’ll have the option to recreate the missing object using the words your earring has learned. To recreate an object, slide the correct words into place inside the object outline. These little puzzles are incredibly easy, as there are only ever a few pieces and each has a distinct shape. 

Gameplay could have been much improved by offering more challenging puzzles. After recreating an object, the dream proceeds. Completing the last missing object concludes the dream and grants access to the next one.

Each time you sleep, you’ll experience one of the town’s dreams. Dreams play out as stories that you read on screen. Unfortunately, the story can be hard to read at times due to the low contrast between the letters and the background. This can be rather annoying as it pulls you out of the narrative.

Interact with the Townsfolk to Complete Dreams

Green Light doesn’t feature quests in the traditional sense. You’ll need to pay attention to what people in town tell you. To progress, you'll need to help the townspeople reach their goals, from the woman who wants to know about the future to the child seeking a new toy. Unfortunately, we don’t get much background on Midori or any of the other townsfolk. This leaves the characters of Green Light feeling flat.

Some townsfolk are only around at night, while others are only available to talk to during the day. For instance, to get your fortune told, you’ll need to go out at night. You can rest on benches in town to fast forward to night. The town itself is rather small, so you shouldn’t have any problem navigating it. 

Green Light is a novel little adventure with an old-school vibe. While the puzzles are incredibly easy, the premise is intriguing. The dreams themselves can get boring as you’ll have to repeat different aspects until you unlock all the words you need to complete it. Further, the text can be hard to read at times.

Overall, Green Light is a simple, at times bland experience, with an engaging premise.