Game Reviews

Lame Castle

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Lame Castle

The mediaeval period was host to a number of exciting events. The devastating battle of Hastings, the bloody War of the Roses, and the mildly interesting signing of the Magna Carta are just a few examples.

Lame Castle wants to recreate the excitement of the time, only with fewer brutal executions and more double-jumping. It never comes close to doing so, but in its own childlike way it's a quirky and enjoyable attempt.

Your charge

You take control of a knight on horseback, or rather a knight on the back of a toy hobby horse – one of those sticks with a horse’s head at the end. This idea of a child at play permeates the whole game, right down to the adorable coloured pencil aesthetic.

You run from left to right jumping over pits and spike traps in a fashion very reminiscent of Robot Unicorn Attack (you even gets faster as you go along). At the end of each stage is a cardboard cut-out or bouncy castle – the aim being to use your lance to lay waste to it in your final charge.

The run is livened up in a few novel ways. Rocks can be charged through for points, while chickens hidden in haystacks can be ‘punted’ along like footballs.

This adds the need for extra dexterity without jeopardising the inherent simplicity of the controls. Other games like Stellar Escape complicate the running game formula until it becomes an exercise in memory, but Lame Castle’s chicken-punting is enough in itself is a step forward for the genre. Especially when the game has its own Endless mode dedicated to the task.

Changing lames

Lame Castle isn’t all praiseworthy, though. Every level is very easy to complete, and the 24 runs fly by. Each level has an extra challenge, like scoring a set number of points from rocks, but these themselves are fairly easy too.

As a result, the reward system isn’t very interesting because it doesn’t feel like you really need any extra skills. For instance, you get an extra heart for your health bar at one point, but you could easily have done the next level without it.

As effortless as the game can be, there are still some chuckles to be had knocking chickens around and bashing into the final prop castle only to see it topple over in a slow, anti-climactic way.

Those looking for an extra challenge can still find it in the rainbow mane of a Robot Unicorn Attack, but for anyone else this hobby horse will do.

Lame Castle

Lame Castle may not be a decorated knight, but under that armour hides a simple yet childishly fun running game
Score
Brendan Caldwell
Brendan Caldwell
Brendan is a boy. Specifically, a boy who plays games. More specifically, a nice boy who plays many games. He often feels he should be doing something else. That's when the siren call of an indie gem haunts him. Who shall win this battle of wills? Answer: not Brendan.