If you’re a child of the 80s like me, you probably grew up with at least one or two books of mazes laying about the house. There was one in particular I had lying around the house that looked like a mix of Tron and Max Headroom (yeah, I’m that old and I can’t find that book anywhere these days) in neon pink and yellow, a science fiction storybook of mazes that I must have been through at least 10 times. They were challenging, addictive, and time-consuming, but most of all pretty fun for a leisurely hour or two. In the 90s, Where’s Waldo became a big craze for a while and people were constantly scanning huge pictures full of tiny images looking for that elusive happy wanderer.
The reason for all this reminiscing is Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective from indie developer Darjeeling and publisher Pixmain. As you may have guessed, Labyrinth City is a mix of interactive mazes and Where’s Waldo-style searching combined into a quirky little game for the Nintendo Switch. The game is based on a series of picture books following the exploits of none other than Pierre The Maze Detective published by IC4DESIGN in Hiroshima, Japan. This leaves us with an indie publisher putting out a French game based on a Japanese children’s book series and that’s just kind of awesome.
Kind of awesome is a pretty decent description of Labyrinth City as well. You play the detective Pierre as he hunts down Mr. X through the streets of Opera City. Yeah, that’s a bit confusing but Opera City has been turned into a labyrinth, hence Labyrinth City. Mr. X has stolen a stone that turns areas into giant mazes though, so he’s going to be pretty tough to catch! You’ll quickly enter into the museum to find out what happened and it’s absolutely packed to the rafters with wild, creative things going on and moving all over the screen. The main goal is to guide Pierre through each maze and stop the evil and rather rude Mr. X, retrieve the stone and save the day. They definitely should have guarded that stone better…
Labyrinth City is a very straightforward game. As Pierre, you walk around, looking for ways to get where you’re going. Along the way there are numerous dead and blocked pathways as well as hidden treasure chests, stars, secret mini-games that net you trophies and even pages of Mr. X’s journal, revealing his evil plan for the maze stone. You can’t die and there’s no timer though, so this is a pretty relaxed game and even young children should have no problem navigating the simple controls. This is an all-ages title with some clever dialogue and visual comedy for adults too though, even if it’s all good, clean fun.
Eventually, you’ll make your way to the end of the first maze and there’s a cinema that progresses the storyline. Then you end up in the next maze, which is noticeably more complex than the last. There are hidden areas, trick corners, and all sorts of neat visual devices along with the interactive points of all types that pop up all over the mazes. The complexity is high but the game isn’t outrageously challenging or unfair either and chances are you can get through a single maze in less than 30 minutes most of the time. As you play, arrows pop up that guide you in the general direction of your end goal if you interact with everything. There are even a couple of timed puzzles but they’re pretty low pressure. This is definitely a game to chill out and relax with.
But what you’re really here for is mazes. Hunting through a wild and disparate array of random activities, people, vehicles, animals, balloons and so much more is fun, but doing it while trying to find the right pathways and all the hidden items is even better. And this wouldn’t be a fun game if it wasn’t visually pleasing! Fortunately, the wizards over at Darjeeling have managed to turn the original books into a living, breathing city that looks like a storybook was magically turned into a video game. It’s honestly a fantastic and impressive-looking game that will charm your socks off. And wandering around exploring each area is just relaxing fun that lets you decompress; a far sight from many of the dark and violent things out there these days. Labyrinth City is a design masterpiece come to life in stunning detail and it’s a pure joy to just wander around and see what’s happening while you play. This is a great game for kids too, and my five-year-old had a blast trying to figure out where to go next, but the appeal is pretty much universal. If you’re older though, squinting heavily at the screen on the undocked Switch is a pretty tough go for all the fine detail included here and to really get the full impact of Labyrinth City, it’s definitely better to play it on a TV.
In addition to the lush and detailed graphics and the fun, irreverent story, Labyrinth City has a nice light soundtrack that perfectly complements the graphics. Random interactions create a variety of sound effects as well, and the game really seems to come alive as the various interactive actions take place. There’s simply no two ways about it, Labyrinth City is a fun game on every level. However, it’s not a particularly hard game, and players will find themselves wandering through the game within around 5 or 6 hours. Simply put, the mazes are not all that hard and a bit of diligence nets you most of the hidden items. A few are rather challenging but once you get the hang of how they’re hidden, you’ll find them no problem. Even with going back and replaying a level here and there, Labyrinth City won’t be much of a challenge. This isn’t a brain-straining puzzle game by any means.
Ignoring the low difficulty curve and shorter length of Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is pretty easy though. The price point is low at only $12 and it’s just a fun diversion that manages to be visually compelling, even if the story is rather ridiculous. Once you’ve found the hidden items, there’s not a ton of replay value here, but for a low-priced game, there’s a lot to love here and an impressive amount of detail and care has been put in by Darjeeling to make Labyrinth City as much of an experience as it is an interactive maze. It might not be a traditional game, but it’s a very good one, and kids seem to love it too!
This review was based on a digital copy of Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was noticeably easier to play docked on a large screen! Labyrinth City is also available on mobile devices for Android and iOS, as well as for PC on Steam! All pictures are actual screenshots!