I am back! I took a week off to evaluate my blog and YouTube page. I still have a few Steam Nextfest games to talk about and so this week is about saving the world from ruin as a red panda. This week is Ailiuri.

Ailuri is a 2D platformer from Vivink Studios. The game will be released on the PC, and the Kickstarter is here.

The player takes the role of an endangered species, maybe a red panda named Ailuri, and their mission is to save other animals and restore the life balance of the world.

Ailuri is all about platforming. The player is introduced quickly to the idea that there are a few different ways to tackle each section. Ailuri can swing, jump, climb, and throw objects to complete puzzles that reward the player with progression and more platforming.

Platforming is pretty basic, which is by no means a bad thing as platforming is the most consistent mechanic in the game. Ailuri has a cute little dash that shoots them upward which is huge for getting to hard-to-reach places.

There is a combat element that falls a little short. It feels like it was made to be an answer for the bad guys that can hurt Ailuri but the combat is just straightforward. It is really hard to game over when there are enemies nearby, most of the time Ailuri dies from the player taking chances that they shouldn’t.

Saving other animals from danger is a fun spin on the collect-athon for the interactions with the animals are heartwarming and left me with the want to save them all from whatever bad thing is happening.

Hand-drawn video games will always get a thumbs-up from me. Ailuri is a downright beautiful game with traces of love noticeable everywhere. The sounds are great too.

The Ailuri demo was a blast to play. I’ve been in a platforming mood for some time and this demo gave me what I wanted. There were times when some of the abilities just stopped working and I was forced to close the game and restart but other than that, everything worked as intended and it was quite fun. The demo ran almost an hour for me and during that time I tried to find all of the missing animal friends and reunite them with their families.

Ailuri was a fun demo and I oblige you to play it as well and wishlist it.