Ludography
86/100
Critics2 reviews
74/100
Metacritic6 critic reviews
More scores
Metacritic usersuser score
71/100
GameFAQsTough-Unforgiving
4.25/5
Player reviews
84% positive218 reviews
Steam Deck
Verified
Runs on
Windows, Mac
Price
US$19.99

Where to get it

Lunark cover

2023 · Canari Games · Action · Action-adventure

Lunark

Lunark is a 2D cinematic platformer in the vein of '80s and '90s classics. Run, jump, hang, climb, roll, and shoot your way through mysterious alien ruins, a flying penitentiary, a high-tech megalopolis, and a majestic forest.

Released
30 March 2023
Platforms
Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5WindowsXbox OneXbox Series X/SmacOS
Genres
ActionAction-adventureAdventureCinematic platformerIndiePlatformerPuzzle
Developers
Canari Games
Publishers
WayForward Technologies
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Engine
GameMaker
Country
Canada
Age ratings
ESRB E10+GRAC 12+CLASS_IND 10PEGI 7USK 12ACB PG
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Spain)
Time to beat
4.5hmain story7hcompletionist

About

Lunark is a 2023 platform game developed by Canari Games and published by WayForward. The game was originally released for Windows, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch on March 30, 2023, with ports for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 released on April 6, 2023. The game follows Leo who has unique abilities, the player attempts to uncover the origin about humanity.

The game was mostly developed by the creator Johan Vinet. The Kickstarter funding for the game had raising over 81,655 Canadian dollars and the campaign ended in 2019.

›Story

As Earth became inhospitable, Noah, an AI whose sole purpose was to preserve humanity, was created. It chose the Moon as it’s Ark - renamed Lunark - using it as a ship to evacuate a handful of chosen ones to the nearest superhabitable planet. Unfortunately, whether the planet was inhabited or not was not part of Noah’s criteria.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Lunark is a retro-style cinematic platformer. In the game, the player plays as Leo, a young boy with unique physical characteristics who has some unique abilities including his weapon to shoot and can overcoming traps and solving puzzles. The game has 12 levels for the player to explore.

Story

Centuries ago, Earth became increasingly unsustainable and the most optimistic forecasts predicted that humans could survive for another 10 years. Moon was transformed into a giant spaceship for humanity's survival by an artificial intelligence called Noah which was created by group of scientists. In order to transport millions of humans, the operation Lunark was undertaken as the last ditch effort to save humanity.

Centuries later, humans are about to celebrate the 300th anniversary of their arrival on their new home planet Albaryne. Leo returned to Albaryne to talk to some guard and builders about a rumor that there hasn't been single human casualty and Gideon. He later fly to the level Hitting a Wall.

Development

Lunark was inspired by many video games from the 1980s and 1990s such as Prince of Persia, Flashback and Another World. Johan Vinet begin working on the game creation in 2016 when he making demakes just for fun. during his thinking about the game creation, he details his love of old platform then he thought that he could made it a real game.

Vinet started his own company Canari Games and the Kickstarter campaign for the game was launched in 2019. Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia noted that the game look like something Eric Chahi could made. Vinet originally intended to release the game on Microsoft Windows and macOS, but was able to develop for more platforms after WayForward contacted him for a publishing deal. Vinet was influenced by science fiction films, television series and books for the setting and plot of the game and drew inspiration from adventure films such as Indiana Jones and Back to the Future. The game's plot is based on the story of Noah's Ark from the Book of Genesis.

Reception

Luke Plunkett of Kotaku enjoyed the game because of the rotoscoping. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade considered the game one of the all-timers of cinematic platforming.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
macOS30 March 2023Worldwide
Nintendo Switch30 March 2023Worldwide
Windows30 March 2023Worldwide
PlayStation 430 March 2023Worldwide
PlayStation 530 March 2023Worldwide
Xbox One30 March 2023Worldwide
Xbox Series X/S30 March 2023Worldwide

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Collections2 collections

Years

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.