Ilomilo
Encyclopedia
ilomilo is a puzzle game developed by SouthEnd Interactive
and Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on Windows Phone 7
on November 8, 2010 for AT&T
customers. On November 26, 2010, a "secret" website was made available where players could get a code to download a trial and purchase the game early, while the game was officially released on Xbox Live Arcade
on January 5, 2011.
, Victor Neff from "The Dream Machine", Meat Boy from Super Meat Boy
, and Josef from Machinarium
. Additional content is also available if the player also owns A World of Keflings or Raskulls
.
and riding a flying beetle.
Each time Ilo and Milo leave for the night and return to each other in the day, the park becomes more and more complicated to navigate (in a reference to the game's levels and puzzle elements). After one meeting, Ilo and Milo become upset at the thought of leaving each other again, crying so heavily that the subsequent levels are played underwater. Later they each have an idea to draw maps for each other and hurl them about the park in hopes the other finds them, ironically making the park even more confusing to navigate. In the final chapter, Ilo and Milo resolve not to go home at nighttime, and instead search for the sun so that they may stay together. Becoming lost once again, they finally reunite at a vehicle that resembles a locomotive
fused with an biplane
, and depart from the park in it. Vowing never to separate again, they wander the world together.
The main story is allegorical for a brief subplot
involving two human characters named "Ilona Zevon" and "Milton Foley"; the player receives snippets of the subplot (in the form of written letters) after collecting enough "Memory Fragments" found in the levels. In this subplot, Ilona and Milton write letters to each other frequently and desire to meet together at their favorite spots, including an unknown park and lake. Ilona eventually stops meeting with Milton and writing altogether; Milton persists in sending mail, only to have it returned from a "Dr. Jacob", who claims that Ilona no longer resides at the intended residence. Ilona is later revealed to have been barred from seeing Milton by "they". Milton reestablishes contact with Ilona and resumes their meetings, and Ilona acquires two tickets for an unknown night train, asking they "never turn back". The final snippet is a missing persons report
for Ilona and Milton, dated November 29.
A second subplot, a fable
called "The Huntsman and the Fox", is narrated to the player by Sebastian, if he/she encounters him in specific bonus levels. The fable involves a fox, a huntsman, and his demanding fiancé. The fiancé asks the huntsman to kill a fox and create from it a beautiful fur boa
. The huntsman goes into the forest and encounters the fox, however, the fox convinces the huntsman to spare it for the sake of its family. The fiancé is furious and threatens to leave the huntsman if he does not produce a boa, and the huntsman confronts the fox again. The fox strikes a deal with the huntsman, offering its tail in exchange for its life and the vow of the huntsman to never again harm a fox. The fiancé however rejects the tail alone as too inadequate to make a beautiful boa with, and the huntsman decides to break his deal with the fox. The fox warns the huntsman that if he is killed, the huntsman will never be able to leave the forest, as it is the only guide in or out; as the master of the forest, the huntsman is disbelieving and kills the fox. However, the fox proves correct, and the huntsman soon becomes hopelessly lost. After much wandering, the hunstman encounters an abandoned house and enters it, only to be sealed inside by an unknown force forever. The fiancé is left pining for the huntsman, eventually forgetting about the boa but never of him. Sebastian later suggests that the huntsman eventually became the new forest guide.
. WMPoweruser gave the Windows Phone 7 (WP7) version of ilomilo a overall score of 5/5. WPcentral gave the WP7 version a score of 8.5, praising its charm whilst criticising its short length. Platform Nation's Julian Montoya gave the game a 9 out of 10, stating the title is "a cute and excellent puzzle game with spectacular and imaginative visuals, clever stages and equally charming music". Edge awarded the game 6/10, stating that "its most intelligent puzzles embrace three dimensions surprisingly well", but criticized the game's artistic direction, stating that "the charm is a little too mannered to be truly effective".
SouthEnd Interactive
SouthEnd Interactive is a game development studio based in Malmö,Sweden. SouthEnd works on game productions from various genres that run from various clients, such as Ubisoft and Sierra Online...
and Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
on November 8, 2010 for AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
customers. On November 26, 2010, a "secret" website was made available where players could get a code to download a trial and purchase the game early, while the game was officially released on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
on January 5, 2011.
Gameplay
The goal of each of the 49 levels is to unite Ilo and Milo, who are on separate sides of the level and must work together to meet. Players can change control between Ilo and Milo, or two players can control both Ilo and Milo. Because only one character can be "active" at any time, players in multiplayer alternate between controlling their given character and using a "pointer" to help guide the active player. "Eggs" are also hidden on certain levels which are only accessible in multiplayer. Levels are made up of various cubes, some of which Ilo or Milo can pick up and carry in order to place elsewhere in the level, opening a path for the other to travel on. Different cubes have different effects, such as some which extend across gaps or some that allow Ilo or Milo to fall through and end up on the other side. There are also carpets which allow characters to walk on different sides of the cubes and switches which activate bridges. Hidden throughout the levels are various fragments, which when collected piece together postcard memories, explaining some of the game's backstory. There also small creatures called Safkas hidden in each level, which unlock bonuses when collected. The levels that these safkas open contain a part of Sebastian's "The Huntsman and the Fox", levels with appearances from other games, and levels with re-skins of Ilo and Milo themselves. The characters that can be seen in the purple safka's levels are The Goo Balls from World Of GooWorld of Goo
World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game by 2D Boy, an independent game developer consisting of Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, both former Electronic Arts employees, released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android and WiiWare...
, Victor Neff from "The Dream Machine", Meat Boy from Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is an independent video game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes and developed by Team Meat. It is the successor to McMillen and Jonathan McEntee's October 2008 flash game Meat Boy. Super Meat Boy was released on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010, on...
, and Josef from Machinarium
Machinarium
Machinarium is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design. It was released on October 16, 2009 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, on September 8, 2011 for iPad 2 on App Store and on November 21, 2011 for BlackBerry PlayBook. Demos were made available on September 30,...
. Additional content is also available if the player also owns A World of Keflings or Raskulls
Raskulls
Raskulls is an action platform game video game independently developed by Halfbrick and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It was released on December 29, 2010. In Raskulls players must navigate through platform-based levels filled with blocks of varying...
.
Plot
Ilo and Milo are two friends, creatures known as "Safkas", that meet daily for companionship inside a bizarre "park" in a strange world, populated by odd characters including other Safkas, utilitarian lifeforms known as "Cubes", and the haughty but helpful Sebastian, a small man wearing a bicorneBicorne
The bicorne or bicorn is an archaic form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American military and naval officers...
and riding a flying beetle.
Each time Ilo and Milo leave for the night and return to each other in the day, the park becomes more and more complicated to navigate (in a reference to the game's levels and puzzle elements). After one meeting, Ilo and Milo become upset at the thought of leaving each other again, crying so heavily that the subsequent levels are played underwater. Later they each have an idea to draw maps for each other and hurl them about the park in hopes the other finds them, ironically making the park even more confusing to navigate. In the final chapter, Ilo and Milo resolve not to go home at nighttime, and instead search for the sun so that they may stay together. Becoming lost once again, they finally reunite at a vehicle that resembles a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
fused with an biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
, and depart from the park in it. Vowing never to separate again, they wander the world together.
The main story is allegorical for a brief subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
involving two human characters named "Ilona Zevon" and "Milton Foley"; the player receives snippets of the subplot (in the form of written letters) after collecting enough "Memory Fragments" found in the levels. In this subplot, Ilona and Milton write letters to each other frequently and desire to meet together at their favorite spots, including an unknown park and lake. Ilona eventually stops meeting with Milton and writing altogether; Milton persists in sending mail, only to have it returned from a "Dr. Jacob", who claims that Ilona no longer resides at the intended residence. Ilona is later revealed to have been barred from seeing Milton by "they". Milton reestablishes contact with Ilona and resumes their meetings, and Ilona acquires two tickets for an unknown night train, asking they "never turn back". The final snippet is a missing persons report
Missing person
A missing person is a person who has disappeared for usually unknown reasons.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
for Ilona and Milton, dated November 29.
A second subplot, a fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
called "The Huntsman and the Fox", is narrated to the player by Sebastian, if he/she encounters him in specific bonus levels. The fable involves a fox, a huntsman, and his demanding fiancé. The fiancé asks the huntsman to kill a fox and create from it a beautiful fur boa
Feather boa
A feather boa is a fashion accessory that is usually worn wrapped around the neck like a scarf.-Construction:A boa can be made of fur, but it is usually made instead from various types of feathers. Ostrich, marabou, chandelle, and turkey are the most common feathers used, although non-feather boas...
. The huntsman goes into the forest and encounters the fox, however, the fox convinces the huntsman to spare it for the sake of its family. The fiancé is furious and threatens to leave the huntsman if he does not produce a boa, and the huntsman confronts the fox again. The fox strikes a deal with the huntsman, offering its tail in exchange for its life and the vow of the huntsman to never again harm a fox. The fiancé however rejects the tail alone as too inadequate to make a beautiful boa with, and the huntsman decides to break his deal with the fox. The fox warns the huntsman that if he is killed, the huntsman will never be able to leave the forest, as it is the only guide in or out; as the master of the forest, the huntsman is disbelieving and kills the fox. However, the fox proves correct, and the huntsman soon becomes hopelessly lost. After much wandering, the hunstman encounters an abandoned house and enters it, only to be sealed inside by an unknown force forever. The fiancé is left pining for the huntsman, eventually forgetting about the boa but never of him. Sebastian later suggests that the huntsman eventually became the new forest guide.
Reception
Overall ilomilo received favorable reviews, earning a score of 81/100 from review aggregator MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. WMPoweruser gave the Windows Phone 7 (WP7) version of ilomilo a overall score of 5/5. WPcentral gave the WP7 version a score of 8.5, praising its charm whilst criticising its short length. Platform Nation's Julian Montoya gave the game a 9 out of 10, stating the title is "a cute and excellent puzzle game with spectacular and imaginative visuals, clever stages and equally charming music". Edge awarded the game 6/10, stating that "its most intelligent puzzles embrace three dimensions surprisingly well", but criticized the game's artistic direction, stating that "the charm is a little too mannered to be truly effective".