During PAX West a few years ago, I got my first look at the game Lucid. Lucid is the first ever “Celestoidvania” that combines unique movement, combat, and problem solving. If ” Celestoidvania” does not sound familiar to you, it is because the developer made it up. Eric Manahan fell in love with the game Celeste, and it inspired what Lucid is today. My first look at this game was hands-off off so I was excited when I got a chance to play during GDC this year.
About a year ago, I interviewed the developer of Lucid, Eric about Lucid and his journey creating the game. It was amazing to learn that, at the time, he was pretty much developing this game by himself (with some musical assistance from his wife). Eric’s passion for game development is clear when you play Lucid. The game is still in a beta stage, but everything feels tight and well put together.
While there are a ton of things I can compliment about the game, the movement is the star here. Eric drew a good amount of inspiration from games like Metroid, Castlevania, and, as stated previously, Celeste. Lucid feels familiar and yet has a special ‘something’ about it. Like any game in related genres, there is a decent amount of difficulty here. When I encountered different movement puzzles, I never felt cheated. When I got it right, I felt like Neo in The Matrix.
When I first saw the hands-off trailer some years ago, I loved the art, and today, my feelings are still the same. There will always be something special about retro graphics, and they fit perfectly with this style of game. The character and enemy designs are amazing. It’s still crazy that Eric was working on this game by himself for so long.
If you want to support Eric along his development journey, you can check out the Lucid Kickstarter. This will also be the way you can get your hands on an early build of the game. When creators like Eric are releasing amazing content with such small teams, I feel good about the future of the gaming industry. There is no official release date at the moment but you can stay up to date with all the developments at The Matte Black Studio website.