Lost in Random – A new world-spanning adventure
Imagine walking into a D&D world that’s been meticulously created and DM’d in the style of Shel Silverstein or Tim Burton. Instead of elves, dwarves and other creatures, there’s a huge card shop that is also a man, a degenerate duke, and an upside-down, scary-looking guy who dreams of being in a position to be able to rhyme, just to name a few. This is Lost in Random’s wildly original and innovative action-adventure title. While its combat may wear thin, exploring its worlds will never stop.
You play as Even, the twin sister Odd and Even. They are fated at 12 to be chosen by the Queen to use her six-sided magical dice. The result determines which one of the six kingdoms of Random they will spend the rest their lives in. Short story: Odd is sent to Queen’s world, but Even refuses to let her go. Also check out Yohoho.io
The epic adventure that follows after you escape from the Onecroft starting area is full of references to films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. Even though Random’s entire world is covered in gray and black shades, each world offers unique and intricately layered settings.
Two-Town’s inhabitants have two completely different personalities. They can shift when the Queen rolls her dice. A separate Two-Town has been built called the Upside Downtown. This completely obscures the town’s skyline, much like the Inception scene. Two-Town feels even more vast. You can explore the background of the zone through side quests or speak to the many NPCs in the town before moving on.
Threedom and its people remain in an endless state of war due to a series of petty disputes between the three outrageous Triplets. Other, equally strange characters around the world react in unexpected and bizarre ways to these events that will keep you guessing.
For example, you are constantly told about Lost in Random’s visually frightening Shadowman. Although you hear bits about this terrifying monster who stalks the shadows, and snatches lost kids who wander too far from their home, when you finally meet him, it’s clear that he is annoyed that everyone’s too distracted by the war and that he’s not being paid attention. Random feels alive and richly crafted in this way.
This sprawling adventure is packed with more meat than you would expect, even if you only want to dive into a Tim Burton-esque paradise. Lost in Random has a lot of side quests, fascinating lore, and an adequate semi-real time, semi-turn based combat system. Unfortunately, it is encumbered by dumb enemy AI. Beyond that, each of the five worlds following the rather dull intro section offer unique quirks and struggles that will be remembered long after the game is over.