40
Lydia brings us a theme that is definitely worth exploring in a medium like gaming but it could have been approached in a much better way. The writing needs a lot of work and despite its very on touch visual environment, the gameplay experience is very subpar and there's little interactivity to be found here.
50
Lydia is an interactive story telling point and click, the story of a young girl surrounded by substance abuse. The game is short, and from that, the scenes of the narrative can blur and become confusing in which message it is trying to convey. Visually pleasing, and delivers a good atmospheric dark tone, but difficult to recommend for ‘fun’. However, this is an important game in the awareness of substance abuse.
70
Lydia is a tough game to recommend to everyone because, as a video game, it is too short and has only a minimal amount of gameplay. However, if you're looking for a thought-provoking experience that will stay with you even after you have finished the game, I can confidently say that Lydia is a very strong candidate for you.
7
This is a quietly effective and well-judged game that gets a lot right along the way. It’s clearly aiming for something emotional and I appreciated the restraint; it doesn’t over do it or push too hard. There are moments where it genuinely works, even if it feels a bit slight overall and doesn’t fully deliver the impact it’s building towards. The gameplay is minimal, but the tone and delivery carry it well. Worth a look.
9
It is not much ****, more like unfolding story, but... the emotions that raise along with the time with this title were real, so I will say "good job done".
5
It's not a bad game, but there are so many things I personally want to fix. The movement of the character is so slow and sluggish it borders on excruciating. The "speech" sound effects actually made me take my headphones out on several occasions as they were so unpleasant to listen to. On the other hand the scenery is gorgeously drawn. But this is a game that's all about the sory. One or two of the characters are very believable, sure, but as someone who lived a childhood that was very similar to Lydia's it honestly felt shallow and lacking. What other people see as deep and clever writing I saw as, honestly, lacking in the real complexity of a childhood **** by the issues explored in this game. My childhood and my complicated relationship with my mother is a story I've wanted to tell for many years, but it's too raw to really try to explain to an audience with no understanding of the issues and what it's really like to live that life, the traumas it causes, the ongoing suffering that covers generations to come, and that is ultimately rooted in the generation that came BEFORE my mother. It's all very complicated and it's not easy to point a finger of blame, which is the trap this game falls into. Lydia, as a game, tried to simply sum up a very complex and difficult set of circumstances with a simple explanation that doesn't exist in the real world. I don't regret playing the game, but it wasn't what I had hoped it would be: messy, complicated, and something that I could show to other people and say, "yeah, that was what I lived through as a kid. If you wanna understand me play this game." It just lacks the depth. One day, perhaps someone will create a game that can really explore the issue with enough depth to really help others understand the reality of many children all around the world growing up in these kinds of households. But sadly this game doesn't quite get there.
Lydia
Released On:
Jan 17, 2020
Metascore
Mixed or Average
68
User score
Mixed or Average
6.8
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
68
36% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
55% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
9% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Jan 17, 2020
85
Lydia is an important game, not just because it broaches an important subject matter, but for how it uses its art direction, music, and storytelling to highlight the issues it's bringing to our attention.
Jan 27, 2020
80
Lydia is a small game, but it sends a bigger message that sometimes we need to step in and help the ones who can’t speak for themselves. I highly recommend checking out this enthralling, interactive story about a little girl overcoming her giant “monster”.
User score
Mixed or Average
6.8
43% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
36% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
21% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Feb 12, 2021
10
Lydia is a roughly 1 hour long game. Language is simple and very clear. The hand drawn style somehow clashes with its incredibly deep and dark story. If on discount, definitely worth your purchase. The ending, but the whole story overall to be honest, gives food for your thoughts. Highly recommended.
Mar 1, 2020
10
Deeply touching game. Hit's really close to home. Tears were running down my cheek when the end credits rolled.
Jan 22, 2020
80
With only 4 short chapters to play through, Lydia will only take you about 1 or 2 hours to complete, so those after more of a meaty experience might want to look elsewhere. We would, however, encourage you to experience it at least once, if only for its eye-opening message. It successfully tells a haunting story about abuse and heartbreak without necessarily shoving it down your throat, and that’s really hard to do. It’s one of the most emotionally impactful games to grace the Switch since its launch nearly three years ago.
Mar 17, 2020
70
There are a lot of caveats when it comes to recommending Lydia, as it's a game that will speak to people in different ways. Lydia offers a beautiful and chilling experience, but its dark tone and even darker story and subject matter won't be for everyone.
Jan 21, 2020
65
In general, Lydia is an interesting game with a well put together setting and an art style you probably won’t soon forget, but overall it’s just sort of a slightly underwhelming experience. Over the course of its 45 to 60-minute runtime, you will experience what is obviously a deeply personal story for the creators, leading to a choice that I honestly found very well done in the end. It’s a story of abuse and neglect and how somebody so small is forced to deal with it, and while the gameplay is nothing to write home about, it’s definitely a narrative that will probably stick with me even if just for a little while.
Feb 24, 2020
60
Short, sweet, and to the point, Lydia makes for a memorable and engaging hour of gameplay. Its story of abuse will prove uncomfortable, but a restrained hand ensures audiences never have to confront anything too visceral through gameplay. There isn't much in the way of replayability, but a well told story, plus an excellent visual style make Lydia a worthwhile play-through for anyone looking for something emotionally dense.
Aug 10, 2021
40
Lydia brings us a theme that is definitely worth exploring in a medium like gaming but it could have been approached in a much better way. The writing needs a lot of work and despite its very on touch visual environment, the gameplay experience is very subpar and there's little interactivity to be found here.
Jan 3, 2026
9
It is not much ****, more like unfolding story, but... the emotions that raise along with the time with this title were real, so I will say "good job done".
Mar 18, 2026
7
This is a quietly effective and well-judged game that gets a lot right along the way. It’s clearly aiming for something emotional and I appreciated the restraint; it doesn’t over do it or push too hard. There are moments where it genuinely works, even if it feels a bit slight overall and doesn’t fully deliver the impact it’s building towards. The gameplay is minimal, but the tone and delivery carry it well. Worth a look.
Jan 24, 2021
6
Lydia’s wondrously gloomy visual style and its powerful narrative are little help when it comes to its bare-bones gameplay. Player interaction with the game world is so minimal that you often feel like a mere spectator in the protagonist’s story. Worse yet, you feel that every action you do undertake is meaningless given that the whole thing is scripted. The game doesn’t even respect the choices you make when interacting verbally with other characters, surprising you with many unintended lines. In the end, you are made to feel completely helpless as a player here, even lacking volition. And while this could be said to serve a dramatic purpose, by emulating the perspective of a child entrapped in a toxic family life, it could also be said to fuel a defeatist, deterministic worldview… I wouldn’t recommend the game if its visuals weren’t so astonishing and its moments of sadness so gut-wrenching. But they are.
Aug 11, 2020
4
The game itself is very short and written in extremely simple language. The characters are black and white, literally and figuratively. There is no gameplay. There are no riddles, there is only a simple "click to let the story continue." This is not a quest. As a result, there is no plot, no gameplay. Only the "important" topic remains. Which is served with very basic phrases. The execution is terrible. But they promised to share the money they made from DLC with charities, so I don’t regret buying this game. But game itself really bad.
May 30, 2020
4
In my opinion it's truly a bad game. It has a quite nice graphics, but gameplay, and by gameplay I mean movements between reading sections, is bad. Story is somewhat deep, but the presentation was a mess... I don't know why would someone spent his/her money on this game. I'm glad I got it for free. I would love to call this game short and sweet, but it was a good experience only while I was at the chapter one. Other chapters had a messy storytelling, all of it, except graphics were sloppy...
SummaryLydia is a story-driven indie adventure game about substance abuse from a perspective of a small child. The story focuses on how a child processes adult’s problems through her imagination.
Rated Tfor Teen
Platforms:
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date:Jan 17, 2020
Developer:
Publisher:
