It isn’t every day that a game comes along and sucker punches me in the emotions, but recently, one did. I have always been a fan of narrative driven games and this one is no exception. Master Lemon: The Quest for Iceland is a moving tribute to the life of André Lima and yet manages to be so much more in a neatly wrapped package. The warning I will give is that if you are still going through grief of a loved one, have lots of tissues.
Story, or more precisely, the journey to the end
The story of Master Lemon is bittersweet. We play as Lemon, a young man with a love of languages and a dream, to go to Iceland. In his life he learned many languages and eventually was able to achieve his dream. Unfortunately, that dream would be cut short during his travels where he passed away in a car accident. The game tells us all of this very early on. You go in knowing the game is a tribute to Lemon. That means yes, you know how the story ends before you truly begin. However, this game truly is not about the story, but the journey.
When you gain control of Lemon, he’s in what we think of as a weird dream world on the day he prepares to leave home. We get a glimpse of who he is and his loved ones. Our loved ones are always part of journey and Master Lemon reminds us of this in many ways. Lemon’s family throws him a surprise going away party and provides him with a journal and their best wishes. If you take the time to explore, you’ll see he was a fan of a certain 00 game. Goldeneye anyone? These little details of who Lemon is and who André Lima was is what adds to the bittersweetness of the game.
We also meet Rulio, a figure that we’ll see a few different times throughout the game. In fact, he is the filmmaker turned game developer. As you play, you’ll see that this game is not only about Lemon’s journey. At times, characters will refer to the one controlling everything. Yes, the game gets a bit meta referring to the player. It’s a reminder that this is also about the human journey of dreams, grief, sacrifice, friendship, and even love.
It’s also about the power of words. Once you make it back to that other world you saw in your dreams, you find the Bashir, personifications of culture. However, it seems they have been forgetting things. Using the power of words you learn along the way, you can help them remember. The Bashir also remind us that as humanity, we are all connected. For what one Bashir knows, they all know. Despite the different cultures they represent, despite the diversity, they are one. A message that perhaps is even more poignant in 2025.
As Lemon explores languages and helps them remember, he also must come to terms with his own future. Will he give up his dream in order to save the Bashir? Can he escape his fate or can he find a new path forward that saves everyone?
Gameplay
Gameplay follows a fairly simple loop. At the core of the gameplay loop is a cozy puzzle game. Find the right words to say to certain Bashir to remind them of what is important, what is relevant to them, and that word that seems to be right at the tip of their tongue. We’ve all been there right? Help the Bashir have the words to understand themselves, their loved ones, their situation. It does mean finding the words in the fog using the power of Ratljóst, light to illuminate the path in Icelandic, and knowing when and where to use them. As you find new words, you’ll also hear their pronunciations and exactly what they mean in their native language.
You’ll also be using the power of gambiarra, an improvised solution in Brazilian Portuguese, to combine items you find throughout your travels. These items will often help you solve puzzles or situations that words alone can’t solve. For example, words may not be able to build the bridge above, but with the power of gambiarra perhaps you can find something.
Whether your tools are those you can hold in your hand or those you speak aloud as Lemon, each tool power and a place. Use these with the Bashir or when you visit Lemon’s memories as you progress the story to continue to solve the mystery of the fog and their missing memories.
In addition to words as power, you’ll also be able to collect relics for the Bashir to display. Again, with the Bashir being representative of varying cultures it makes sense that relics representative of humanity would be part of the game. Some of these relics will be given to you for solving puzzles. Others will be found as you lift the fog. You can always go back and see how many relics you have found throughout the game. For those who are completionists, expect to be search for 124 relics throughout your exploration.
Art & Music
Master Lemon The Quest for Iceland is a pixel art adventure. The art is cute, inviting, and warm much like Lemon himself is presented. Each area you explore brings a different atmosphere. When you find yourself at Lemon’s family home when it needs to be welcoming it is so. However when you revisit this later and it needs to echo sorrow from all of its walls, it does this well with lighting and missing pieces. While traversing the islands, each area radiates it own feeling. As you help the plants grow with the missing words it feels suddenly more vibrant and alive. When you are in the movie theater it feels both uncertain, unsure, broken, until it isn’t. Then it feels hopeful, like theater and film, it can be a world of possibility.
The music adds to the ambiance of the game. The music changes depending on where you are ensuring it matches the location in demeanor. When it needs to feel sad, it is sad. When we feel optimistic, brave, so does the music. The music also does not drown out the voice acting that occurs during the key story moments. During the cut scenes the music allows the voice acting to take center stage and returns throughout the rest of the game play.
Conclusion
At the end of my playthrough, while I definitely felt more somber than I started, it was cathartic. Anyone who has lost someone too soon will understand wanting to memorialize their loved one in on some way. Anyone who has gone through the stages of grief will recognize moments in the characters and wish you could hug them. Completing the game left me heartbroken for the developer, for Lemon’s family, and for a life that could’ve been more. It also left me grateful for the experience and hopeful for a tomorrow in which I can achieve my own dreams and have half the dedication Lemon did to his craft.
Master Lemon is a game for those who want a moving narrative adventure in a short amount of time. You can complete the narrative of Master Lemon The Quest for Iceland in an afternoon should you choose to. Or if you want to find all the relics, give yourself two or three afternoons. Be ready to feel all of the feels with this one, especially as you get to the ending and hear the very personal message from Rulio. Games like this remind us that games are an art form. Games can also teach us be it a language, how to deal with emotions, and sometimes, be a beautiful memorial to someone special. As the game tells us at the end, in a sea of photos of the real life Rulio and Lemon, this game was made for dreamers like Lemon, and isn’t that all of us?
Master Lemon The Quest for Iceland is now available for Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation 5 This review was played on Steam. Thank you to developer Pepita Digital (Julio Santi) for the review code.
