 | This article needs a plot summary.(January 2025) |
| Lorelei and the Laser Eyes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Simogo |
| Publisher | Annapurna Interactive |
| Director | Simon Flesser |
| Engine | Unity [1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Mode | Single-player |
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a 2024 puzzle game developed by Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released on May 16, 2024, on Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It was also released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on December 3, 2024.
The player controls a woman participating in a mysterious project housed in an old mansion. [2] She must explore the mansion to find out what is happening, while the situation becomes progressively more "dangerous and surreal". [3] The game features more than 150 puzzles, which can be completed in a non-linear sequence. The game is played from a third-person perspective, and the player can interact with various characters and objects. [4]
In 1962, Lorelei Weiss, a 30-year-old artist who specializes in puzzle boxes and interactive computer games, becomes fascinated with "Un Animal Terrible," a film by eccentric director Renzo Nero. She writes to him, and he lambasts the film and invites her to create "real art" with him at the Hotel Letztes Jahr ("Hotel Last Year") in January 1963. Upon arriving, Lorelei meets Renzo, whose behaviors are unpredictable, offputting, and concerning. He tasks her with creating an interactive computer maze, which requires heavily experimental technology for the computer systems of the 1960s.
Meanwhile, Renzo works on his newest film, "The Third Eye," set in 1847 and focusing on a magician named Lorenzo and a woman named Renate. The Third Eye ends with Renate gouging out her eyes and Lorenzo pushing her out of a third-story window in fear. Unbeknownst to Lorelei, the "true art" Renzo seeks to create is a recreation of the film's events, with himself as Renate and Lorelei as Lorenzo. He continually provokes Lorelei, including deleting her maze after its completion, before gouging out his eyes and approaching her with a revolver. With Renzo holding a firm grip, Lorelei's only choice is to push Renzo out of the window, mirroring the ending to The Third Eye.
Lorelei retreats from the art world and becomes known almost entirely for the 1963 incident with Renzo. On her deathbed in 2014, she relives the experience one last time, which is the perspective from which the player sees the event as a whole. After solving the various puzzles and mysteries throughout the mansion, the player unlocks a supercomputer in the basement of the hotel, triggering an ending sequence where an apparition of Renzo speaks to the elderly Lorelei before closing her eyes.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is the ninth game developed by Simogo, which had previously created games such as Device 6 and Sayonara Wild Hearts . Unlike Sayonara Wild Hearts, the game is mostly colored in black and white. The studio wanted to create a "3D collage, a fragmented memory world", and therefore combined various visual styles, using "photographs, low-polygon geometry, line-rendering, and distinct sharp shading on higher res-characters" to create a surreal atmosphere. [5] According to Simon Flesser, the game's director, the team wanted to evoke "a constant feeling of ambivalence" and "a sense of absurdity", in which players will begin to question what is happening due to the peculiar scenarios presented in the game's story. [6] He further went on to add that the puzzles designed in the game were also built "around the idea of the players understanding the connection between things" [7]
In March 2020, Annapurna Interactive and Simogo announced a multi-year agreement to publish Simogo's games further after the success of Sayonara Wild Hearts in 2019. [8] During the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase in June 2022, the game was officially revealed. [9] While the game was set to be released in 2023, an update during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase in June 2023 reveals the game delayed with a cyphered message around its launch. [10] The release date was finally revealed later during the Indie World Showcase in April 2024 with the game being set to launch on May 16, 2024. [11]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | NS: 88/100 [12] PS5: 91/100 [13] Win: 88/100 [14] |
| OpenCritic | 94% recommend [15] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 9/10 [16] |
| Digital Trends | 5/5 [17] |
| Eurogamer | 4/5 [18] |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10 [19] |
| GameSpot | 9/10 [20] |
| GamesRadar+ | 4.5/5 [21] |
| Hardcore Gamer | 5/5 [22] |
| IGN | 9/10 [23] |
| Nintendo Life | 8/10 [24] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 89/100 [25] |
| Push Square | 8/10 [26] |
| Shacknews | 8/10 [27] |
| The Guardian | 5/5 [28] |
| TouchArcade | 5/5 [29] |
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for its Nintendo Switch and Windows versions, [12] [14] and "universal acclaim" for the PlayStation 5 version, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. [13] OpenCritic determined that 94% of critics recommended the game. [15]
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes received nominations for its storytelling and for Best Indie Game at the Golden Joystick Awards. [30] [31] It was also nominated for Best Independent Game at the Game Awards in 2024. [32] The game appeared on several lists of the top video games of 2024, [33] [34] [35] being ranked in third place by the Associated Press [36] and eighth place by The A.V. Club . [37] In 2025, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes received a nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction" at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. [38]
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Storytelling | Nominated | [30] [31] |
| Best Indie Game | Nominated | |||
| The Game Awards 2024 | Best Independent Game | Nominated | [32] | |
| 2025 | New York Game Awards | Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game | Nominated | [39] [40] |
| 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction | Nominated | [41] [42] | |
| 25th Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Audio | Honorable mention | [43] | |
| Best Design | Nominated | |||
| Innovation Award | Honorable mention |