Stela

SkyBox Labs has done a great job with Stela when you look at it as a piece of art rather than a video game. That said, they haven’t messed up with the gameplay either. The only thing that could affect the beautiful art, the incredible music and the simple gameplay of Stela is the fact that it ends much sooner than it should.

Stela is an ok game, a snack while you're waiting for more consistent meals. If you're a fan of the platforming & puzzle combo, you should give it a try.

SkyBox Labs' Stela is a good title that shows off the undoubted abilities of its development team. It's not a masterpiece but bodes well for the future of the company that, after years of working behind the scenes, is ready to play a leading role.

Including all unavoidable failures and retries, it only takes two hours to play Stela through. In that sense, the asking price of twenty bucks is a bit too steep. However, the game is well done and the gameplay focuses only on the essential as there’s nothing extra to distract you. There are plenty of similar games out here (Limbo, Inside and Little Nightmares to name a few) and despite somewhat unfortunately hollow emotional response, fans of the genre will find a competent puzzle-platformer in Stela. As of writing, no one has clocked the achievement for zero deaths during a playthrough so the game is a perfect challenge for die-hard completionists out there.

Stela is similarly brief but also a fleeting experience that doesn’t make much of an impact while you’re playing or linger once you complete it mostly due to its hollow world. Even its strongest parts — like its deliberate platforming and dazzling visual flair — are diluted elements from Limbo and Inside, two games that it pulls from in nearly every aspect that make the parallels unavoidable.