Platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), Steam
The first time I laid eyes on LumbearJack was a couple of weeks ago during the Wholesome Direct Indie Game Showcase. I was immediately drawn to its cute and colorful, almost papercraft-style graphics. It also didn’t hurt that the game was about a bear smashing the crap out of things with a giant axe. Without much more knowledge than that, I decided to jump in and give it a try. So let’s find out exactly what this game is all about.
In LumbearJack, you take control of a bear named Jack that lives deep in the woods and only wishes to exist peacefully with his animal friends. Unfortunately, one morning he wakes up to find that a company, known as Evil Works, has begun to invade his peaceful territory. So he does what any bear would do – grabs his axe and embarks on a quest to take the bastards down.
When I first started it, I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of gameplay I’d be in store for. As it turns out, at its core, LumbearJack is a bit of a puzzle game. Spread across 20 different levels, Jack must use his axe to smash all varieties of things that shouldn’t be in the forest, including cars, buildings, and even heavy machinery.
At the beginning of each level, Jack will only be able to break certain items and as he does, he’ll collect scraps that will allow him to upgrade his axe. Once upgraded, his axe will then be able to break bigger items. It sort of has a similar vibe to a game like Katamari or the more recent Donut County. It’s a simple gameplay hook, but I can’t deny that there’s something very satisfying about demolishing everything and returning life back to the forest.
In some levels there will also be some more traditional puzzles that involve using machines in the environment to help other animals. This includes doing things like manipulating platforms or moving and dropping heavy objects on smaller objects to break them. Helping these animals usually results in them opening a new path for you to continue forward with the level.
There are also a few levels where Jack will use a golf club or tennis racket to smack bombs into obstacles. It’s basically just like the other levels but you have to use this far more finicky gameplay mechanic, rather than the more straightforward approach of smashing things with the axe. These were probably some of my least favorite levels in the game because they just didn’t control all that well and weren’t nearly as satisfying as the other levels.
Each level also has three bonus objectives to complete. The first is to clear out all of the debris that Evil Works has set up in the area. The second is finding a hidden bear trap and destroying it. The final, and my personal favorite, is finding and slapping the shit out of each human in the level to make them more environmentally friendly. Each of these objectives are pretty easy to complete, and I did each in most levels without ever really going out of my way to do so.
While LumbearJack does try to add things to keep gameplay fresh, like the bomb levels and the bonus objectives, everything just ends up feeling very similar throughout the experience. After the first few levels it just sort of felt like I had seen all the tricks that the game had to offer. So as the game went on I couldn’t help but feel like I was mostly going through the motions more than anything else.
Where I feel like LumbearJack really shines is with its cute aesthetic. In a game with no voice acting or dialogue, the amount of personality and charm that radiates from its cast of characters really is something. This is thanks in large part to the cutscenes that take place before and after each level. These were both adorable and amusing and offered up some of my favorite moments in the game.
One last thing, and something I usually try not to bring up in my reviews, is the price of the game. I don’t know what has gone into making it and would never want to discount someone’s work, but with LumbearJack I couldn’t help but feel that its $12.99 price tag was a little steep for what it offered up. The game can be completed in less than two hours and there’s not much in the way of replay value. While there are the bonus objectives I mentioned earlier and a few new outfits for Jack to unlock, these all come rather naturally, so there’s really no reason to go back and explore previous levels.
LumbearJack is the kind of game that I find hard to put a score on. I love its look and the cutscenes between levels, but the experience is brief and the gameplay is both very easy and a bit repetitive. I’d also be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying having Jack demolish all sorts of things in his way and seeing the greenery return to the forest. So after thinking about it, I would say that I did like LumbearJack and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a chill game with light puzzle elements, but it certainly won’t be for everyone. It’s a good game, you just need to know what you’re getting into before you jump in.
