If you’ve been following the indie game scene lately then you’ve probably heard of Lucid. It was a big hit at PAX East back in March and now there’s a demo available to Kickstarter backers. The Kickstarter demo encompasses the same area that was available to play at PAX but with some welcome changes. In particular the removal of the 15 minute timer.

Much like any metroidvania, Lucid has plenty of secrets to find, paths to take, and enemies to defeat. This has to be one of the BIGGEST demos I’ve ever played. I spent just over 4 hours and I’m not even sure I collected everything! Upon finishing the demo you’re met with a percentage complete screen. It’s clear that getting 100% doesn’t actually mean you’ve collected everything. It feels like it just means you’ve collected 100% of the secrets you’re expected you to find.

Mapping the World of Lucid

After completing the demo and looking at the entire map, it’s very clear that this game will be absolutely huge. Lucid’s demo only includes one biome out of the many shown on the world map

I’ve often complained that these many of these kinds of games have no easy way to look at the map. I can’t even begin to describe my frustration when I have to keep pausing the game to open a map. Hollow Knight did this well with a dedicated map button that shows the map on the screen without pausing. In Lucid you can press a button that shows a translucent map in the corner that’s useful while being unobtrusive.

You can toggle this mini-map with just a press of a button. Use it when you need it and get rid of it when you need full view of the screen. I feel like this is the best way to handle a quick look at the map without having to fully pause the game.

Fluid and Fun Platforming

The movement is smooth and responsive and after a small learning curve you’ll be zooming around the map having an absolute blast. When you get into a platforming flow you’re given the same satisfying feeling that a Sonic game gives when you’re going really fast.

Eric Manahan (lead developer and head of The Matte Black Studio) was quoted as saying, “If traversal is 50% of the game and your traversal isn’t fun, you’re leaving money on the table” (as seen in PCGamesN’s Lucid preview from their time at PAX East). It’s very clear from Lucid’s traversal that he’s put a lot of work into making it fluid and fun.

I played the Lucid Kickstarter demo on a Steam Deck and I can verify that I had zero issues playing this demo and it was smooth as butter.

Lucid doesn’t have a solid release date yet but you can wishlist it on Steam today. According to the Kickstarter page it will also be launching on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.