Review Fix Exclusive: State of Play Games’ Luke Whittaker Talks ‘Lumino City’

Review Fix chats with State of Play Games’ Luke Whittaker who discusses their nifty iOS puzzler “Lumina City.” Inspired by games the likes of “Shadow of the Colossus” and featuring a beautiful and unique art style, Whittaker discusses what else makes the game a special one.

For more on the game, click here.

Review Fix: What made the development of this game special?

Luke Whittaker: The most obvious answer is that the whole game environment was created by hand, from paper, cardboard, miniature lights and motors, and then filmed. That entire creative process was special, and we were careful to build a working environment where we could experiment with technology to make that happen. And to me, almost everything was special about making this game. It was a highly personal project where we could really push our ideas to the limit.  It was special because we collaborated in new ways, with architects, modelmakers and photographers, and made great friends with some incredibly inspiring people. It was special because we feel we’ve created something we really can say we love.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Whittaker: This game really is for everyone.  We didn’t aim to target it at any particular demographic, it’s been created whilst thinking of the things we loved throughout every stage of our lives. There are things in there which should appeal to all ages, my toddler loves just running around all the environments for example, and we’ve also had people in their 80s getting in touch saying how much they loved the adventuring and the puzzle solving.  With the addition of those puzzles, it’s a great game to play as a family. Older kids and adults can help out with the trickier puzzles, younger ones can enjoy the ride.

Review Fix: Any thoughts on an eventual console release?

Whittaker: There are some plans in the works, and we’re looking into the feasibility right now. We’ve got a couple of other games ideas in the works too, and these will probably come out before a console release.

Review Fix: Why do you think puzzle games still matter?

Whittaker: I think they’ll always matter. We all love to be mentally challenged, and I think the audience for this kind of this is getting bigger not smaller as more demographics start playing.  I’d go as far as saying that puzzles can be part of what makes a game art. I’ve been thinking of Shadow of the Colossus again recently, which is part action game, part puzzle game, as you work out how to scale these huge colossi. Outwitting and then killing these apparently sentient beings is part of the struggle which gives the game its incredible power.

Review Fix: What games directly inspired this one?

Whittaker: Shadow of the Colossus definitely played a part, I wanted you to feel the awe you experience when faced with scaling something grand and inexplicable, except instead of trying to reach the top of colossi here you’re scaling a huge city. There are occasions where we’ve capitalised on what a camera can do to enhance this, focussing on the very top of the city from below, or sweeping down through the city as your character slides down a rope. Other puzzle adventures were big influences too, Samarost and Machinarium for example, as well as the classics like Monkey Island we grew up with.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone play this game?

Whittaker: Because you won’t have seen anything like it before. And because, I think, you might just fall in love with it.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Whittaker: There’s a big game we’ve got ideas for which I can’t say too much about yet, but we’re also working on two smaller titles for release in 2016. One of which is based on our hit puzzle game KAMI which has been a great success on iOS and Android. It’s good for us to work on a few projects around the larger ones, it’s good commercially and good for our sanity. The big ones like Lumino City really take it out of you, you give them everything.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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