I’m a bit unsure how to categorize Leila, a hand-drawn puzzle adventure game set to release this summer. It has elements reminiscent of Gorogoa, yet the demo also features a series of vignettes that evoke the spirit of What Remains of Edith Finch, albeit with less depth. The game centers on a middle-aged woman who navigates her past and present by delving into her mind, sorting through a blend of magical realism and memories. Visually stunning, I really enjoyed the demo.
The titular Leila is a married mother who feels somewhat dissatisfied with her life. She describes sometimes “falling into holes” in her mind, but now she’s determined to explore her consciousness with intention. The demo frequently breaks the fourth wall as you guide her through a dark, immersive forest, eventually stumbling upon a picnic complete with a projector. This leads to a memory set in a coffee shop, where you need to identify images hidden in negative spaces.
One particularly memorable segment takes Leila to her childhood treehouse, where she becomes stuck, much like Alice in Wonderland. You must manipulate her limbs to unlock a dollhouse in the corner, which is actually a miniature version of her adult home. Here, you tackle chores as a tiny doll-sized Leila, showcasing the game’s seamless flow of associations and its unique representation of how our minds connect different experiences.
Gameplay is intuitive and exploratory, with instructions delivered through slightly cryptic voiceovers from Leila. For instance, in the coffee shop scene, she prompts you with variations of words like “absence!” and “empty!” until you spot the first hidden image of a speech bubble or tree. Another scene challenges you to find various items within a limited number of guesses; each wrong guess dims the image, making it more difficult to search. Fortunately, there’s no timer, and if you fail, the level simply restarts. While this might frustrate streamers seeking explicit directions, I found it enjoyable to experiment and discover what I was meant to do.
