Game Reviews

Hilomi

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| Hilomi
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Hilomi
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| Hilomi

I swipe a finger across the screen and make a chunk of earth disappear.

The puddle it was suspending turns into a blob of water and drops down onto a pile of sand. That sand turns into mud, and with another flick of my digit I make it disappear.

Hilomi is clever in a sweet, good-natured way. It never rubs its brain smarts in your face, but its puzzles are sharp enough to offer a decent challenge.

Or at least they are when the game finally stops holding your hand. For the first 20 or so levels it keeps too close an eye on your progression, even going as far as shouting at you when you try and do things for yourself.

When the training wheels finally come off the game is a blast, mixing platforming and scenery manipulation to create a fresh blend of familiar flavours.

Each level sees Hilomi, the photographically minded adventurer of the title, jogging forward automatically. You need to poke and prod the world to make her a path to the statue that's her goal.

Earth can be extended upwards or outwards with slides of your finger, or stuffed into other chunks of scenery to create gaps.

Puddles can be drained by taking away the lumps of mud that surround them; sand can be hydrated and combined; and totem poles twist you around and send you walking in the opposite direction.

There are animals to photograph on each level, and you only get a set amount of scenery-shaping mana to get you through. Some of the challenges require some serious thinking to complete with the energy you've got.


Despite what this screenshot suggests, there's no bird scaring mode

Everything about Hilomi smacks of quality, and while it might not be the most original of ideas, it's presented in a way that still makes it feel pretty fresh.

It's not perfect, and the earlier levels in particular let the side down a little, but if you get past them, which is ridiculously easy, you'll find a game that's full of good ideas, neat little levels, and enough puzzles to keep you playing for a long time.

Hilomi

Hilomi is a neatly put-together puzzling adventure that's well worth some attention
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.