ilomilo Review

By Chris Schilling Published 5 January, 2011

You, me and the cubes.

Version tested: Xbox 360

ilo and milo (lower case: it's important) are safkas, red and blue thumb-shaped creatures with tiny arms and legs and one long curly hair sticking out of the top of their heads. They're the best of friends but they keep finding themselves separated by the mazes of cubes that make up their world. To get back to each other they need to call upon the help of a fashion-forward Frenchman who rides a ladybird, walk across stretchy cuboid dogs in Pringle sweaters, drop through trapdoors with faces drawn on in crayon, and ride creatures that like to eat square apples.

It might sound like Noel Fielding pitching a new show to CBeebies, but in truth, ilomilo is not as self-consciously wacky as it sounds – barring some interstitial non sequiturs that feel slightly forced in their weirdness. It's charming and occasionally funny, and the spelling and grammatical errors simply add to the homespun feel. Its whimsical, hand-crafted aesthetic looks almost like a Michel Gondry-directed stop-motion kids' show. In case you were wondering, that's a good thing.

1

No wonder Meat Boy looks so happy – the worst he'll get from these levels is a paper cut or two.

There's something of Ocean Software classic Head Over Heels in the set-up: your job is to guide ilo and milo to each other by switching from one character to the other. Rather than making your way through isometric environments, however, you need to negotiate increasingly complex structures made entirely from soft fabric cubes. Neither has any unique ability; you simply have to reunite the pair by making clever use of the special blocks on each stage.

Initially you'll start off with large cubes that can be picked up by either character and instantly shrunken down into portable form, worn by ilo and milo like a backpack. Slot these between gaps and you can cross over to the other side; they're reusable, and often you'll need to pick them up and replace them elsewhere several times in one stage. Red arrows on the edge of some cubes allow the characters to transition from one side to another, while other cubes can stretch across three cubes either vertically or horizontally depending on their placement.

2

There are ten secret eggs to find with the flies in two-player mode, with an Achievement for those who locate the lot.

The further you get, the more intricate the stages become. 37 puzzles and 12 bonus stages might not sound like a lot, but after easing you in gently at the start, Swedish developer Southend Interactive really ramps up the difficulty level. With myriad other cube types to consider, ranging from trapdoors to elevators to the ridable, apple-gobbling Munchers, later levels are real head-scratchers.

You don't need to finish every single puzzle to reach the final stage – a wonderfully clever piece of design which sees our heroes touchingly reunited for good – but there are plenty of reasons to go back once the credits have rolled. Each level holds dozens of collectible doodads which represent fragments of ilo's and milo's memories; once you've collected enough, you'll unlock a piece of a letter whose contents may well invite deeper reading into the plot's meaning. Collect all three baby safkas hidden on each stage and you'll unlock the bonus stages, which hold the game's trickiest challenges. Photographs and vinyl records are also tucked away, representing unlockable concept art and stage music respectively.

Ignore the visuals and the soundtrack (a mix of nursery-rhyme melodies, ambient sounds and out-of-tune parping, like an arthouse take on In The Night Garden) and there would still be plenty to recommend here. The puzzles are thoughtfully constructed, controls work just fine, and the camera is flexible and helpful enough to slice a circular piece of the environment away if a cube is blocking your view of ilo or milo.

But it's the presentation which really impresses. ilo and milo themselves totter around adorably, and the environments are flat-out gorgeous. The park setting of the first chapter is suffused with the glow of a late summer's afternoon, as various structures and contraptions stretch into the sky in front of what looks like a child's painting of a tree. Marine levels are bathed in shades of green and blue, as strands of cloth seaweed – or are they tentacles? – undulate gently and strange undersea creatures swoop and dive around the cube structures in the centre.

3

Munchers only turn when their route is blocked. Clever block placement can guide them down paths they wouldn't ordinarily traverse.

The third chapter is an origami masterpiece as paper floats down from the sky in front of sheets of mathematical formulae and childish drawings. Finally, the last chapter immerses the player in an indigo twilight, as wonky spindles and foil stars sleepily spin, the environment softly illuminated by cubes of light. It's perhaps the most beautiful puzzle game you've ever seen, and an astonishingly rich world for an 800-point downloadable game.

A multiplayer option sweetens the deal, even if the game forces you to unlock stages afresh. When one player switches control to the other, they can control a fly which can highlight cubes for suggested moves, or bring up a pair of flat-cap-wearing musical puppets who bang a drum and play an out-of-tune tuba. It's a delightfully silly touch, as are the cameos from a couple of indie-game favourites.

4

Revisit a level and any safkas you previously found will be wearing hats. Collected photographs, meanwhile, appear crumpled and faded.

One level on the third chapter hides 'ilomilo shuffle', a mini-game with an 8-bit visual style, while reaching the games' nonsense-spouting tutor Sebastian in the bonus stages sees him retell the fairytale of The Huntsman and the Fox. Even once you've seen everything, there's impetus to try each stage again with the minimum number of cubes traversed. Trying to reduce my pathetic tallies to somewhere approaching the community average is my next target.

There's just one small caveat at present: should you have 'helper bubbles' turned on in the game's settings, it has a tendency to freeze. In completing 32 of 36 stages and eight bonus levels, the game came crashing to a sudden halt on 10 occasions. This did tend to happen whenever I attempted something particularly stupid (like trying to pick up a Muncher; in my defence it was the first time I'd seen one) but it can also happen if you tap the A button to collect an elevator cube before it's come to a complete stop, for example. In a game where levels often take 15 minutes to complete, a freeze close to the end can be inordinately frustrating. As long as you ensure the bubbles are switched off in the settings – which they are by default – then you shouldn't suffer any freezes, although Southend is currently beavering away on a patch to resolve this minor issue.

Otherwise, this is a dreamily pretty and astonishingly compulsive puzzler that's a good deal more polished than many full-price retail releases. Its often bizarre sense of humour might not be to all tastes, but if the wackiness doesn't appeal, the visuals and the intelligently-constructed riddles surely will. If it weren't for a stunning recent remake of a certain arcade classic, you'd struggle to find a better way to spend 800 Microsoft points.

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Chris.

About Chris Schilling

Chris Schilling writes about video games for a living, and knows an awful lot about Pokιmon. Ask him anything. (Though he may have to confer with his son.)

Read more articles from Chris by visiting the Chris Schilling archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • deadmonkeyuk #1 1 year ago

    Last year I bought more downloadable games than boxed games. Looks like 2011 is starting the same way.

  • GamesConnoisseur #2 1 year ago

    Great! Been looking forward to this and a cert buy for me.

  • Tanners #3 1 year ago

    Games like this are why I play my 360 more then my PS3, not big first party exclusives.
    Edited by Tanners at 05/01/11 @ 11:44

  • alimokrane #4 1 year ago

    One of the best Xbox live arcade games ever! fell in love with it instantly!

  • robthehermit #5 1 year ago

    An absolute gem of a game. Charming, addictive and infuriating in equal measure.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #6 1 year ago

    Glad this turned out great. Was looking forward to it as soon as I saw the first trailer.

  • TheDudesRug #7 1 year ago

    Wow, never even heard of this. It sounds fantastic, I'll pick this up for sure.

  • DoctorFraud #8 1 year ago

    XBLA is the highlight of this gen. Lovely game, just lovely.

  • KayJay #9 1 year ago

    It really looks wonderful.

  • Psychotext #10 1 year ago

    Excellent, looking forward to giving the demo a blast.

  • RedSparrows #11 1 year ago

    This is one of the most attractive and pleasant games I've ever played, and it's a darn good puzzler to boot. Deserves to sell loads.

  • towser #12 1 year ago

    stoked this reviewed well - I've been 100% interested in this since I saw the first gameplay vids a while back.

    Looks like a top game and the art style looks luurverly!!

  • drhickman1983 #13 1 year ago

    Saw an article about this quite a while back, thought it looked promising (and that, level visuals at least, it reminded me of Kula World) , but had totally forgotten about it.

    Think I'll give it a go later, and if it's as good as it sounds it'll be a purchase. Maybe start clearing my XBLA must-purchase backlog too.

  • RandolphScott #14 1 year ago

    I found the demo pretty disappointing. A lot of it just felt like a trial and error maze with little skill and confusing 3d worlds. Hopefully it's just the demo.

  • Ror1984 #15 1 year ago

    I played the demo of this and really enjoyed it. To be honest though, I struggle to finish XBLA games on the 360 when I have such a ridiculous backlog of boxed games to get through. Does anyone know when this is coming to WP7? I've been waiting patiently! I'm hoping it runs and controls well - if it's not playable on the phone, I'll just bite the bullet and download it on console.

  • FogHeart #16 1 year ago

    Looks like cloth is the new metal.

  • bladdard #17 1 year ago

    I enjoyed the demo, there's a real richness and quality to downloadable games on the 360, it's a shame a few more of these gems don't come to PC as well.

  • neilka #18 1 year ago

    Safkas are the little fellas you pick up, I don't think ilo and milo are safkas themselves.

  • sneetch #19 1 year ago

    @bladdard
    I enjoyed the demo, there's a real richness and quality to downloadable games on the 360, it's a shame a few more of these gems don't come to PC as well.

    It's supposed to be coming to the PC, WiiWare and PSN too. And is supposed to be out on WP7 by now, that might only be in the US though (Edit: ah, it's an AT&T "exclusive" in the US at the moment, aren't exclusives fun!)

    http://wpcentral.com/software-review-win...
    Edited by sneetch at 05/01/11 @ 12:18

  • TeaFiend #20 1 year ago

    This is pretty cute and awesome! One of the avatar unlocks is ilo and milo running around your avatar, so awesome!

  • Cadence #21 1 year ago

    Why on earth did Edge give this a 6?

  • drumbaby #22 1 year ago

    'Cause they're total misery guts with a real need to come across as clever?

  • AdamAsunder #23 1 year ago

    Not surprised at all by the high mark. Very well presented and thought out puzzler. I'm not usually into puzzle games but it's charm totally disarmed me. Each chapter (on three so far) feels unique too.

  • barchetta #24 1 year ago

    It really is a very endearing game. I got it via that 'secret' weblink late last year with an eye on dragging my eldest away from Lego Star Wars for a bit.... ...definitely not a kids game after a couple of levels. The multiplayer is odd too and didn't hold his attention for long. Still recommend it a beautiful brain teaser and a nice chillout post BFBC2!

  • RandolphScott #25 1 year ago

    What's the criteria for negging on here?

  • RedSparrows #26 1 year ago

    Anything someone doesn't like.

  • RandolphScott #27 1 year ago

    That'll inspire great debate. Bury anything that the majority doesn't agree with.

  • SomaticSense #28 1 year ago

    Lovely litte gem of a game.

    But they REALLY need to fix the freezing. Not been able to have a session on it more than a few minutes without it forcing a hard reset.

  • rudderless #29 1 year ago

    @SomaticSense - Have you checked the settings? Turning off 'helper bubbles' really does seem to solve the issue. Having contacted the devs, I'm assured a patch is due any day now.

    If you're still having problems, perhaps clearing your cache might help.

  • sadakos_fury #30 1 year ago

    Here's a vote for Head Over Heel's return to the world.
    It was responsible for much of my homework going undone in the 80's. Tried it recently on a emulator and that cat and dog still have it. Nothing better than finally getting them together in the same room - the joy of doing big jumps AND running fast. I AM OLD.

  • Toothball #31 1 year ago

    Wonderful little game, I always like puzzles that play with gravity and orientation. The bonus levels were the best part though, as they took some serious puzzling to overcome. The moment when you realise the solution to a level is a marvellous one though.

  • darleysam #32 1 year ago

    Been playing it since I grabbed it early from the 'hidden code' thing, and it's such a good game. I was afraid that it might score badly with reviewers, but I'm pleased to see it's charmed others too.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #33 1 year ago

    "Noel Fielding pitching a new show to CBeebies"

    Ha ha! Nice one

  • andromeda #34 1 year ago

    shame the words Noel Fielding came up.

    Utter Twunt

  • layleeloo #35 1 year ago

    Loving the demo. Its a gorgeous game.

  • Pastici #36 1 year ago

    Also grabbed this from that secret code thing, so glad its 800, 1200 would've killed it I think.

  • humble #37 1 year ago

    Michel Gondry kids' show.... Head Over Heels.... SOLD!

  • Geordiemp #38 1 year ago

    Got so many Ps3 and 360 full games for £ 15 - £ 20 and not had chance to play them all, stiull got enslaved and Vanquish in the wrappers, Oh and sly cooper (3 games) and hot persuit just started.

    All these blockbuster full games I get 3-6 months behind and £ 15 or so, it makes DLC games at £ 10 seem expensive in a strange way.

    Not looked at this, interesting, but is it good for a 'just' down load game or worth pushing aside an enslaved on 360 or Vanquish on PS3 ?????

    Waiting for 360 AC brotherhood to drop..
    Edited by Geordiemp at 05/01/11 @ 17:30

  • Peew971 #39 1 year ago

    @sneetch: AT&T's exclusive is over.
    It's only out in the US though.

  • neosalad #40 1 year ago

    i also got the demo from the not so secret code thingy.
    trouble is .. to many games, too little time at the mo,.. will prob end up getting it though... weird that edge only gave it 6/10 though

  • andromeda #41 1 year ago

    Don't worry Mr. Fielding, 5 people don't think your an utter cock.

  • EmiliasHorse #42 1 year ago

    Edge must have been in a grumpy mood... like most days.

    Buying this on XBLA and WP7, was initially gutted when I read the Edge score but Chris's review more than made up for it.

  • Ror1984 #43 1 year ago

    If anyone has a WP7 handset and is annoyed this isn't in the UK Marketplace yet, go to wmpoweruser.com in your phone's browser and find the ilomilo story (second one down) and click the link to download - it'll take you straight to ilomilo on the marketplace (it's £3.99 btw). I'm playing it on my Omnia 7 right now, and it's very playable :)

    EDIT - it's now in the Marketplace. Go and buy, people!
    Edited by Ror1984 at 06/01/11 @ 19:54

  • layleeloo #44 1 year ago

    @Geordiemp. Thats a weird logic to most people though. Sure, you can wait 3-6 months and get full price games cheap, but then guess what - wait that long for XBL games and they come down in price too. You can compare the price of old games to brand new launch day XBL games as everything goes cheaper in time. There are great games to be had 6 months later for hardly any money, but a lot of people dont want to wait that long hence why I buy all my games on launch as I want to play asap. Thus, 800 points for ilomilo which I paid today I think is a bargain for such a gorgeous and polished game.

  • King_of_Hyrule #45 1 year ago

    This game reminds me of Kula World on PSX, one of the very first 3D games I ever played, where you had to guide a beach ball through a similar 3D maze :) good times! I believe it was on "demo one" which you got for free together with the Playstation.
    Edited by King_of_Hyrule at 05/01/11 @ 22:30

  • Daikon #46 1 year ago

    What a beautiful game.
    Reminds me of Monkey Academy for the MSX for reasons I can't quite place my finger on.

  • EmiliasHorse #47 1 year ago

    I bought the WP7 version last night and would like to report it plays beautifully on HD7 handset, and is brilliant.

  • Orikk #48 1 year ago

    Bought the full game yesterday and played a few levels last night.

    Utterly gorgeous and a pleasant change from running around killing everything in sight.

  • WJF #49 1 year ago

    'I bought the WP7 version last night and would like to report it plays beautifully on HD7 handset, and is brilliant.'

    Completely agree. If you have a WP7, you really should get this game - it's only a few quid, for goodness sake!

    (I'd also add that it even looks almost as stunning as the 360 version, which is quite something)

  • sheepsteak #50 1 year ago

    I tried the demo on XBLA and then on WP7. The controls are really good on WP7 I thought.

  • Cronan #51 1 year ago

    Absolutely gorgeous and eminently playable, I bought and played this last night, 9/10.

  • drhickman1983 #52 1 year ago

    Bought it and really enjoying it. I do want to say I'm rather suprised (in a good way) at the melancholic undertones present in the game though. It's all quite cutesy and upbeat but when you consider the collectable memories and how the main game is allegorical of those, it's ambiguously sad.