We at Geeky Hobbies would like to thank 1337 & Senri AB and Tilting Point for the review copy of Leo’s Fortune used for this review. Other than receiving a free copy of the game to review, we at Geeky Hobbies received no other compensation for this review. Receiving the review copy for free had no impact on the content of this review or the final score.
Leo’s Fortune is a 2014 mobile game made by 1337 & Senri AB and published by Tilting Point. The HD remake was recently released on Steam and other gaming platforms. In Leo’s Fortune you play as Leo, a greedy fur ball. The game begins as he discovers that his fortune has been stolen. He finds a trail of gold leading away from his house so he goes on a journey to try and recover all of his gold and discover who stole it in the first place. While the game is short and easy, Leo’s Fortune is a fun experience filled with some excellent visuals and some interesting mechanics.
The Journey Will Not Be Hard
© 1337 & Senri AB
Leo’s Fortune has a lot of what you would expect from a traditional puzzle platformer. You solve puzzles, jump and avoid obstacles. If you don’t like puzzle platformers, you aren’t going to like Leo’s Fortune.
Let’s start with the platforming. Playing as a ball of fluff (or whatever Leo actually is) you have a couple special abilities. Like every platforming hero you can jump. Leo has the ability to run up walls (if he has momentum) as well as travel through loops he encounters in his journeys. Leo can also expand which helps him float briefly and is used for some puzzles. Unlike other heroes though you don’t have any enemies to defeat as you will only be facing off against environmental hazards.
Overall I thought the platforming in the game was pretty good. The controls are really good since I can’t remember any issues I had with them. The game does a good job using the mechanics in order to create some interesting platforming sections. Unfortunately the platforming isn’t particularly original or challenging. The game doesn’t really do anything that I haven’t seen done in other platformers. You won’t die a lot since a lot of the platforming is pretty straight forward and not that challenging since the game gives you quite a bit of leeway. The game doesn’t really have any points where you have to make difficult jumps or land on a small platform. The game is also really generous with checkpoints so if you do die you won’t lose much progress.
The puzzle aspects of the game share a lot in common with the platforming. The puzzles are well designed and some of them do a really good job using the game’s physics. Unfortunately none of them are challenging. You will likely figure out most of them immediately with the rest only taking a short amount of time to figure out.
An Engaging Experience
© 1337 & Senri AB
One of the first things that stood out to me when I first saw the trailer for Leo’s Fortune were the visuals. Despite originally being a mobile game, Leo’s Fortune has some great visuals. The visuals really stand out in the game and are one of the best things about the game. While visuals don’t make a game good, the visuals in Leo’s Fortune makes the game a more enjoyable experience.
The audio is also quite good. The background music and voice acting are both well done.
While short, I actually enjoyed the story. The story for most puzzle platformers is either non-existent or is usually an after thought. While predictable, I actually liked the story in Leo’s Fortune. While the story is not particularly deep it does a good job creating a believable world and an interest in finding out what happened to Leo’s gold.
A Short Journey
© 1337 & Senri AB
Just like with a lot of indie games (former mobile games in particular) Leo’s Fortune is not a particularly long game. The main story only has 20 missions. Each main story mission is around three to five minutes long. Four additional missions can be unlocked based on how well you do in the individual missions. These unlockable missions are gimmicky levels that focus on using one of your abilities and are mostly time trials. In all it took me around two hours to complete all of the levels in the game.
The problem with a lot of puzzle platformers is that outside of time trials and improving your score, there really isn’t a lot of replay value. That holds true for Leo’s Fortune as well. You can replay each level trying to improve your score/time but that is about it. Leo’s Fortune also has a hardcore mode where you can try to complete the whole game without dying. Not being a fan of replaying levels I never really pursued replaying any of the levels.
Should I Purchase Leo’s Fortune?
I thought Leo’s Fortune was a good game but it will not be for everyone. If you don’t like puzzle platformers you won’t like Leo’s Fortune. Also if you like to be challenged, Leo’s Fortune will disappoint you. Leo’s Fortune is also short and not highly original.
Leo’s Fortune is fun to play and the controls work well. The game does a good job utilizing its mechanics and the physics to create some interesting puzzles and some fun platforming sections. The graphics, sound, and story also do a good job creating an engaging atmosphere. If you like puzzle platformers and don’t mind the easy difficulty, you should enjoy Leo’s Fortune. Whether you should purchase the game now or wait for a sale depends on how much you enjoy the genre and how important length is to you.
