Lums: Angry Birds for Goths?

Hyperbolic Magnetism’s Lums for iOS is the thinking man’s Angry Birds, which is both a good and a bad thing.

Lums is quite evidently built on a very similar formula to Rovio‘s phenomenally successful physics-based puzzler; it features precariously arranged building blocks protecting the otherwise helpless bad guys (vampires from outer space) and the player has a limited number of characterful cartoon projectiles, in this case the titular Lums.

The similarities between the two titles are so apparent, it really is the obvious measure by which to review Lums. My wife and I are quite fond of Angry Birds and so I recruited her to give Lums a look too. Interestingly, our opinions differed.

Irate Bulbs? Annoyed Bubbles? Irritated Balls?

The story behind Lums is that vampires have invaded the Lums homeworld, blocking out the sunlight as they did so. The player must assist in the Lums’ fight against their oppressors, but the vampires cannot be destroyed by force so the player must expose the vampires to strategically positioned light sources in order to kill them.

This plays out in a dark, visually arresting environment with atmospheric audio. The sound of constant rainfall and other ambient effects combine with the shadowy visuals to create a distinct atmosphere. This may be an acquired taste – personally, I loved the peculiar collision of cartoon horror and film-noir qualities, but my wife was left pining for the brighter aesthetic of Angry Birds.

Progression through the levels themselves has an accessible learning curve, starting with the satisfyingly familiar terrain-smashing cannonball Lum, before moving on to the more game-specific Lums; the light Lum, the anti-grav Lum, the transparent Lum and the stone Lum. Each of these affect their environment in a particular way, providing the tools to complete the increasingly fiendish levels.

Pay or Play

In most cases, killing all the vampires and completing any given level is fairly simple, but doing so whilst collecting all three cunningly located stars is often a far more challenging prospect. It is the collection of these stars which will ultimately unlock the next tier of game levels. However, there is a premium option which allows access to further content without having to be so thorough. There is also a premium option to buy bombs which completes the level, but does not collect the stars.

I’m no fan of the freemium culture prevalent in many modern games but I applaud this dual pathway – no content is denied to players by a paywall.

A Shot in the Dark

Ultimately, I’ve grown quite fond of Lums. It has some quirks which I find appealing – the degree of control over your launch point particularly. Unlike Angry Birds, the projectile Lums can be (carefully) guided to any point on the level before they are released, giving the manner in which you solve each level a huge amount of variety. For the most part the control system for performing such manoeuvres is responsive enough, although it can feel like a juggling act as your finger drag threatens to extend beyond the screen edge. I found this more manageable on the larger iPad version.

My only niggles are the occasional lack of visual clarity resulting in collision with a piece of terrain obscured by the contrasting light and dark effects and the enforced level end when all vampires are killed, even if there are stars still to be collected and Lums available to do so.

Lums perhaps lacks some of the sunny charm and the cathartic sandcastle-kicking destructiveness of Angry Birds as was my wife’s preference, but Lums takes that formula and does something different and more cerebral with it.

I don’t think Lums will have the broad impact of its more family friendly feathery progenitor, but there is a certain cult appeal to this polished and engaging puzzle game. It’s well worth the asking price of $0.99USD (iPhone) or $1.99USD (HD iPad edition).