Lorelei and The Laser Eyes: A Modern Take on Classic Puzzle Gaming
- Brothers In Gaming
- Mar 10
- 13 min read
For our first article of 2025, we played Lorelei and The Laser Eyes. Simogo's latest game blends intricate puzzles, surreal storytelling, and Italian cultural references into a bold indie masterpiece.
We have wanted to write about puzzle games for a while, primarily to answer the question: “What makes a great puzzle game?”. Despite playing several acclaimed titles — Cocoon, The Talos Principle, Superliminal, The Witness, We Were Here Together, Machinarium, and many others — none of them inspired us to write an article. But then we played Lorelei and The Laser Eyes ("Lorelei" for the remaining of the article).
When the game launched in May 2024, it flew under the radar. We picked the game because reviews online were very positive, plus we were captured by its unique art style and the intriguing references to Italian culture (Renzo Nero, anyone?). We played the game before the Game Awards, and when it was nominated for Best Independent Game, we weren’t surprised at all.
How can Lorelei be summarized? It’s a surreal, nonlinear puzzle adventure set in a European hotel, where players follow a woman entangled in an obscure narrative that only fully reveals itself at the very end. The game’s core loop blends exploration, document collection, and puzzle solving, making it one of the most rewarding puzzle games we have played in a long time.
More than anything, we think Lorelei captures the essence of independent games and why they are getting more and more attention in recent years: in the end they don’t have to please everyone. Below a very interesting interview with the development team on the topic, where Jonas Tarestad sums it up really well:
“I think mainstream culture today is so insanely anxious. So eager to please everyone. You end up with a result pleasing no one instead”.
Before diving right into Lorelei's analysis, we wanted to briefly talk about Simogo's history in gaming.
Who's Simogo?
Simogo is a 15-year-old gaming studio based in Malmö, Sweden. Since 2010, the studio has operated with only two core employees — the founders Simon Flesser and Magnus Gardebäck — while collaborating with different partners (programmers, musicians, designers, and more) depending on each project’s needs.
One of the most interesting aspects of Simogo’s journey is how they transitioned from developing premium mobile games to creating console and PC games. Between 2010 and 2015, they released a series of premium iOS games (Kosmo Spin, Bumpy Road, Beat Sneak Bandit, Year Walk, Device 6, The Sailor’s Dream, and SPL-T). However, their two most recent titles — Sayonara Wild Hearts (2019) and Lorelei and The Laser Eyes — launched first on console and PC.
Beyond the obvious difference in production timelines — they released one game per year until 2015, while each console game took around 4-5 years to complete — this shift highlights how much the premium mobile game landscape has changed over the past 15 years.
As Simogo themselves noted in a 2017 blog post:
“The ease of mobile game development drew us to making iPhone games back in 2010. But, it’s getting increasingly financially unviable, tiring and unenjoyable for us to keep on making substantial alterations for new resolutions, guidelines, and what have you, as they seem to never end. [...] So, as you have probably understood by now, our current game in development, “Project Night Road”, is indeed a console game.”
This frustration, combined with the creative possibilities offered by console platforms, led to the development of Project Night Road — which later became Sayonara Wild Hearts.
Looking at their early games, Simogo’s signature creativity was evident from the start. For example, Bumpy Road (2011) is a 2D platformer where players move the road under the car rather than controlling the car itself — a simple yet highly innovative mechanic.
Starting from Year Walk (2013), Simogo began exploring darker themes, text-based puzzle-solving, and folklore-inspired narratives — elements that would become foundational in their later works. Sayonara Wild Hearts marked their boldest departure from traditional puzzle games, blending rhythm-based gameplay with vivid pop aesthetics. The game’s self-described genre of “pop album video game” reminded us of Rez, a game that we have mentioned in a previous article about Mizuguchi's synesthetic approach to gaming.
Despite shifting platforms, Simogo’s games have consistently received critical and public acclaim. Excluding The Sailor’s Dream (Metacritic 74), all their games have Metacritic scores of 86+, with Beat Sneak Bandit and Device 6 surpassing 90.
The rest of the article is focused on the design and narrative aspects of Lorelei that we loved the most.
The article is designed to convey a holistic view of our ideas by reading it in full, but if you are interested in a specific aspect of the game, jump to the related chapter!
Game Design
Other Great Design and Artistic Choices
Game Design
How Lorelei bridges puzzle game sub-genres
Before diving into Lorelei, let’s talk about puzzle games in general for a second.
Generally speaking, puzzle games fall into two categories:
Mechanic-driven puzzle games (e.g., Portal, The Talos Principle)
Logic-driven puzzle games (e.g., The Witness, Lorelei)
Even within the logic-driven genre, Lorelei stands out. While The Witness offers self-contained puzzles solvable without external hints, Lorelei is a contextual puzzle game where clues are scattered across the world. However, Simogo borrows the onboarding philosophy from mechanic-driven games, gradually introducing players to the game’s logic rather than leaving them to figure everything out on their own.
This gradual approach makes Lorelei surprisingly accessible, even to players who typically avoid puzzle games — a testament to Simogo’s thoughtful design.
The general approach in mechanic-driven games
To understand Lorelei’s onboarding design, it’s helpful to look at how mechanic-driven games work. For example, in Portal, the first level teaches the player two basic mechanics: placing boxes on buttons to open doors and creating traversable portals.
After this introduction, the game presents a level that combines these mechanics, validating that the player has understood the concepts. This creates a gate that players must overcome to proceed, giving them both a challenge and a clear objective from the start.
Another key element of mechanic-driven games is the balance of hints. Hints can be communicated in various ways: through text, voice-over, dialogue, level design, or even camera framing.
For instance, in a puzzle game I (the game design brother) have been working on, the first puzzle provides clear hints through in-game text and voice-over, while the second puzzle uses level design (showing shrinking doors, image on the right) to suggest that the player should shrink themselves to proceed.
Lorelei's approach
Lorelei combines the best of both worlds by integrating the gradual introduction of mechanics from mechanic-driven games with the logic-driven puzzle design of games like The Witness. This hybrid approach makes the game accessible while maintaining its depth and complexity.
Below we show how the first steps of the onboarding works, so if you want to play the game, you might want to skip it :)
!SPOILER ALERT!
The first puzzle serves as a tutorial, teaching players the core gameplay loop: gather information and use it to deduce solutions. At the start of the game, the player receives a letter with "the year" underlined in red, followed by a locked door requiring a 4-digit code. Nearby the locked door the player also finds a second letter with the words "1962" and "next year," underlined in red. This prompts the the player to deduce that the code is 1963 ("Find the year" + "1962" + "Next year" == "1963").
With this approach, Simogo was able to hit two birds with one stone. It teaches players how to think within the game’s logic and also demonstrates how hints are integrated into the world. By the time players encounter more complex puzzles, they’re already familiar with the game’s rules and expectations.
!SPOILER ALERT OVER!
On top of this, we think the overall level design approach is very interesting and unique in Lorelei.
While most puzzle games follow a linear progression—solving one puzzle unlocks the next, increasingly difficult one—Lorelei adopts a more exploration-oriented core loop:
Explore: Wander the hotel, uncovering new areas and clues.
Find Documents/Objects: Collect items that provide hints or contain puzzles themselves.
Solve Puzzles: Understand which gathered information is relevant to a specific puzzle and solve it.
This structure encourages non-linear thinking, as players must mentally connect information from different parts of the game. For example, a document found early on might contain the key to solving a puzzle encountered hours later. This design choice keeps the game fresh and engaging, even over its 20+ hour runtime.
See below for an example of the skills that the game asks the player to develop during the game.
! SPOILER ALERT!
A great example of this is the Roman numeral puzzle. About halfway through the game, players encounter three doors with pads displaying Roman numerals of varying lengths. Initially, the solution isn’t obvious. However, after exploring other areas and revisiting documents, players might realize that a book collected at the start of the game contains the necessary Roman numerals. The solution was there all along—players just needed to connect the dots.
! SPOILER ALERT OVER!
Documents as game design pillar
Documents play a central role in Lorelei’s design. The game features a vast array of documents that players can collect and consult at any time. These documents are not just supplementary — they are integral to solving puzzles and unveiling the game's narrative.
Simogo has carefully designed them to serve multiple purposes, which can be categorized as follows.
Document as a puzzle
Some documents contain puzzles themselves, such as mathematical riddles or cryptic drawings. Solving these puzzles provides the direct information needed to progress (such as unlocking a door).
Document as a clear hint
These provide straightforward clues, often by underlining or highlighting specific parts of the text. For example, the document below explicitly states that the solution is "1807" (forty years since 1847).
Document as a hidden hint
These require players to interpret the information and connect it to the game world. For instance, a document might reference a location or object that players must find and interact with.
Document as guidance
These function as maps or guides, directing players to specific areas or puzzles within the game.
The variety and complexity of these documents ensure that players are always engaged, even after hours of play. Moreover, they are seamlessly integrated into the game’s lore, making the world feel cohesive and immersive.
Fixed camera
One of Lorelei’s most distinctive features is its fixed camera system. Unlike modern games that allow players to freely control the camera, Lorelei uses pre-set camera angles that don’t change dynamically.
This design choice serves two main purposes:
Game Design. Many of Lorelei’s puzzles rely on specific camera angles to frame clues or hide information. A dynamic camera would disrupt this carefully crafted design. Additionally, the fixed camera allows Simogo to control what the player sees, ensuring that important details are always visible.
Artistic Style. The fixed camera draws inspiration from cinema, particularly classic films where the director controls the viewer’s perspective, enhancing the game’s mood and aesthetic
To mitigate the limitations of a fixed camera, Simogo occasionally shifts to a first-person perspective for certain puzzles, allowing players to manipulate the camera and interact with objects more directly. This hybrid approach ensures that the fixed camera never feels restrictive.
Overall, we loved the choice. It makes sense from both a design and artistic point of view. Plus, it is, at least for us, a very nostalgic choice. Having grown up with 90s and early 2000s games (Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid, to name two), that was a time when the fixed camera was much more common. Simogo probably wanted to give a similar feeling, and they totally succeeded.
The randomization of puzzle's solutions
Another innovative design choice is the randomization of puzzle solutions. To prevent players from easily finding solutions online, Simogo randomized certain elements of the puzzles.
! SPOILER ALERT!
For example, in the 1957 Room puzzle, players must identify which four out of ten pictures on the wall correspond to the numbers "1", "9", "5", and "7." The correct combination of pictures is randomized for each player, forcing them to engage with the puzzle’s logic rather than relying solely on external guides.
! SPOILER ALERT OVER!
The one-button design
Simogo’s decision to use a one-button control scheme is both a nod to classic point-and-click games and a deliberate design choice to simplify the player’s experience. With only two inputs—movement and a single button press—players can perform three actions: move the character, open the contextual menu, or interact with objects.
This minimalist approach has several benefits:
Accessibility: The simple controls make the game accessible to players of all skill levels, removing any barrier to entry.
Focus on Puzzles: By limiting the number of actions, Simogo ensures that players focus on solving puzzles rather than mastering complex controls.
Creative Constraints: The one-button design forced Simogo to think creatively about how to design puzzles within these limitations, resulting in unique and innovative gameplay mechanics.
For example, many puzzles require players to interact with specific objects, which then shifts the game into a "Focus Mode" where players can examine and manipulate the object in detail. This design choice not only enhances immersion but also ensures that the puzzles remain engaging and varied.
The Narrative
Meta-story and Meta-theatre
One of the most intriguing aspects of Lorelei and The Laser Eyes is its meta-narrative—a story that exists within multiple layers of reality. The game doesn’t just tell a story; it plays with the very nature of storytelling, blurring the lines between what is real, what is imagined, and what exists purely within the game’s internal logic.
At its core, Lorelei features two simultaneous meta-narratives:
The Player’s Story: The narrative that players experience as they explore the hotel and solve puzzles is itself a construct within the mind of one of the game’s characters. This creates a sense of ambiguity—are the events real, or are they a figment of the character’s imagination?
Renzo’s Play: Scattered throughout the game are script pages that reveal a play written by Renzo Nero, one of the central characters. This play is not just a fictional work within the game; it’s a meta-commentary on the nature of reality and illusion. Renzo’s goal is to bring this play to life, further blurring the boundaries between the game’s narrative and the "real" world.
These layers of storytelling create a narrative labyrinth where players are constantly questioning what is real and what is imagined. The game shifts seamlessly between these layers, creating a sense of disorientation that mirrors the surreal atmosphere of the hotel.
Meta-narrative is not a new concept in gaming, but Lorelei takes it to a new level by embedding it deeply into both the gameplay and the story. A recent example of meta-narrative in gaming is Silent Hill 2, where the protagonist’s reality is distorted by his feelings of guilt. However, Lorelei goes further by weaving multiple layers of storytelling into its puzzles, environments, and even its documents.
We don’t want to overwhelm the article with info unrelated to gaming, but for any literature fan out there, meta narrative, and specifically “metateatro” (“meta theater” in Italian), was a very common aspect of Luigi Pirandello’s novels and plays. In his works, plays often exist within plays, adding an extra layer of complexity to the narrative. In more recent times, Murakami has been using the same metatheatrical devices in many books, including 1Q84 and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
We could go on and on rambling about this, but we’ll stop for the sake of consistency! If you like the topic, reach out to continue the conversation :D
The Italian references
The game’s meta-narrative is enriched by its numerous references to Italian culture, which add depth and texture to the story. These references are not just superficial nods; they are integral to the game’s themes and atmosphere.
Renzo Nero
The name Renzo Nero is a clear Italian reference, and its duality with Lorelei Weiss is central to the game’s themes. "Renzo" is a common Italian name, often associated with Renzo Tramaglino, the protagonist of I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni. This classic Italian novel explores themes of fate, struggle, and love, which resonate with Lorelei’s narrative.
The contrast between "Nero" (black in Italian) and "Weiss" (white in German) reinforces the game’s preoccupation with duality—truth and illusion, light and darkness, reality and fiction. This duality is reflected not only in the characters but also in the game’s visual and narrative style.
Italian Neorealism and the game's aesthetic
The visual and narrative style of Lorelei bears clear traces of Italian neorealism, a cinematic movement that emerged in the mid-20th century. Known for its stark black-and-white cinematography and use of non-professional actors, Italian neorealism often blurred the line between reality and dream—a theme that is central to Lorelei.
Directors like Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni explored similar themes in their films, creating worlds where reality is constantly shifting and uncertain. The game’s use of black-and-white visuals and its fragmented, dreamlike storytelling evoke the atmosphere of classic Italian films like Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) by Vittorio De Sica.
The game also features various fictional films, some of which carry strong echoes of classic Italian cinema, with many titles hinting at "giallo" films (a genre of Italian crime and mystery movies). The game’s surreal, fragmented storytelling and its use of dream logic are reminiscent of psychological horror films like Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) and Suspiria by Dario Argento.
These films, much like Lorelei, use visual abstraction and unsettling atmospheres to create worlds where reality is constantly shifting.
Santa Lucia: An Italian-Swedish connection
One of the most intriguing references in the game is to Santa Lucia, a figure who holds significance in both Italian and Swedish culture. In Italy, Santa Lucia is a Catholic saint associated with light and vision, celebrated especially in Sicily. According to legend, she is depicted holding a golden plate containing a pair of human eyes, which she offers to the viewer—a symbol of her devotion and sacrifice.
In Sweden, Luciadagen (Saint Lucia’s Day) is a major festival of light in the darkness of winter. Given Lorelei’s themes of vision, perception, and light, this reference is likely intentional.
Scattered Italian words and phrases
Throughout the game, players encounter Italian words and phrases like "Signorina" (Miss in Italian), which reinforce the European, old-world atmosphere of the setting. These linguistic touches add a sense of authenticity and immersion, evoking the feeling of being in a remote, mysterious location.
For fans of Italian literature, these references might bring to mind works like Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose) by Umberto Eco, where Latin phrases are used to create a sense of medieval mystery and history. In Lorelei, the use of Italian language serves a similar purpose, enhancing the game’s atmosphere and thematic complexity.
Conclusion
As you can tell from the article, we loved Lorelei and The Laser Eyes.
In our opinion it is a masterclass in puzzle design and narrative storytelling, showcasing Simogo’s ability to innovate within the indie game space. Simogo’s decision to blend exploration, document-based puzzle-solving, and a fixed camera system creates a uniquely immersive experience that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.
What sets Lorelei apart is its unwavering commitment to its vision. The game doesn’t try to cater to everyone—instead, it embraces its niche appeal, offering a deeply rewarding experience for those willing to engage with its complexities.
In a gaming landscape often dominated by trends and mass appeal, we think Lorelei and The Laser Eyes stands out as a true piece of art. It reminds us that games don’t have to please everyone—they just have to resonate deeply with those who take the time to engage with them. For players who enjoy cerebral challenges, rich narratives, and a touch of the surreal, Lorelei is an unforgettable journey that lingers long after the final puzzle is solved! We totally recommend it.
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