Cute, smooth, clever, and not too punitive

My six year (and ten month) old son likes this game. He played it immediately with no help from me… The first level does a very clever job of introducing you to the simple controls and gameplay. The “violent” aspect that earns this game a 9+ age rating seems to be only when Leo hits a thorn or spike, but at that point the game just freezes for a second and resets Leo’s position to where he was a just before your mistake… There’s really no graphic or audible violence. My son sees much worse violence in so-called age-appropriate cartoons. It doesn’t make you replay large sections when you make a mistake, which is nice. The “skills” required for playing the game are timing the direction of Leo’s movement to avoid obstacles, and to take the desired path. I personally don’t like timing-style games, but my son enjoys it. The “puzzles” so far have been very simple to solve, but add periodic clever touches. I really like how Leo grunts, “Ha ha!” and other non-verbal sounds as you make it across a jump or make a mistake… Strangely satisfying. The only complaint is that the gameplay is a single motif, meaning that you’re basically slidinging along a path, timing jumps the whole time, with occassional needs to balance on a beam or bump into a lever/switch. It would be a richer experience if the game had additional modes of play for the character, maybe flying or swimming. In summary, it’s a pretty and clever side-scroller game.

LPDad about Leo's Fortune - HD Edition