I’ve taken a week off and I do not feel any better, only because I have some level of carpal tunnel. It is fine, I was still able to play a game throughout the week. I played the demo of this week’s game a few months ago and thought about the world of it. Sometimes you play a game and know that the full game is going to be an absolute hit and this week, Planet of Lana is that hit.

Planet of Lana is a cinematic puzzle platformer from Wishfully and published by Thunderful Publishing. Planet of Lana was released in May of 2023 for Xbox Game Pass and PC and retails for $20.

From the start of the game, you are thrust into a story about Lana and her sister, who appear to be orphans, in a quaint seaside village inhabited by many happy folks. As the sisters are playing in the woods, they come across a vista reminiscent of War of the Worlds, as mysterious objects are falling from the sky. In no time, machines have overrun the village, and presumably the entire planet, hauling off the inhabitants to an unknown location. Lana, escaping capture, is adamant about finding her sister. Lana travels through beautiful vistas, including a lush green forest, a sandy desert, and some old-world ruins that shine a light on the history of the planet and how these machines are a part of it. Though there is not much voice acting, Planet of Lana really pulls on the heartstrings because of how cold the machines are to the environment around them. These machines kill wildlife and abduct humans for the sole sake of a string of musical notes being called out from across the planet.

Planet of Lana is a platformer at heart with some puzzles sprinkled throughout. Most of the time it is just Lana and their friend walking around traversing the beautiful planet that they reside on, outsmarting robots and understanding how electricity works to overcome obstacles. Lana moves, jumps, climbs crouches, and can even instruct her companion to help her with puzzles. The puzzles are nothing revolutionary, but it adds a nice break to the gameplay loop. Puzzles can be in the form of outwitting robots on a predetermined path or figuring out a way for your companion to press a few buttons to move on. Out of my entire playthrough, there were two times when I felt like I was stuck. Having to escort your companion around really doesn’t feel like much of a chore because the puzzles are relatively easy and the stealth sections are far in between.

HAND. PAINTED. VISUALS. Planet of Lana is a visually stunning video game. The character models have very little detail but the environments and backgrounds are absolutely beautiful. The old world ruins really sell the game on its visuals because the main story beats happen there and the mix of sci-fi with the nature of the world adds a lot of beautiful scenes within the area. The set pieces are orchestrated really well. There is a point near the end of a QTE chase scene and it had me on the edge of my seat because it was so well designed.

The soundtrack is phenomenal. You have the nice, light moments that carry the platforming sections, tense violin screeches when enemies are searching for you, and the set piece moments really up the ante when it comes to orchestrated chase music. Takeshi Furukawa has really outdone it with this soundtrack.

I knew from the moment when I played Planet of Lana’s demo that this game was going to be great. I jumped in and was immediately enthralled by the world and the style of the game. The hand-painted visuals are nothing short of spectacular, the environmental storytelling is engaging and the world pulls you in almost instantly. Though the puzzles are the weakest part of the game, Planet of Lana excels at everything else.

PLAY. THIS. VIDEO. GAME