LUCKY LUNA
Developer Snowman Publisher Netflix Format iOS Release 2022
When we spoke to Phil Fish for E373’s return to Indie Game: The Movie, he rejected the idea that Fez has had much impact on videogames, the odd adventure about brave little foxes where you collect pages of an in-game manual notwithstanding. Between Animal Well and this, he may have to eat his words. Lucky Luna is a vertical platformer that shares a trajectory with Downwell, but a mood that recalls Polytron’s biggest hit. Inspired by Japanese folk story The Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter, it’s a rare platformer without a jump button; rather you slide your finger left and right to guide Luna, the speed of your swipes determining their momentum. If it looks familiar, that’s because it’s not actually new: it originated as Cerulean Moon, which Spanish developer Nacho Beard has been developing for the better part of a decade.