Mosa Lina Pushes Boundaries with ‘Aggressively Random’ Puzzle Platformer Gameplay

Developers Stuffed Wombat, Silkersoft, and Lukke have announced Mosa Lina, a quirky puzzle platformer that aims to reshape the way we think about games, and it’s due out on PC in fall 2023. As seen in its reveal trailer, the team is using a minimalistic art style and going light on story in favor of randomly generated levels that ask players to think on their toes, maybe to an extreme. Completing objectives is important but not as crucial as just having fun as rotating abilities force experimentation. It’s a bit difficult to explain, so you can see the Mosa Lina gameplay trailer for yourself below.

ANNOUNCING OUR NEW GAME!

Mosa Lina – a hostile interpretation of the immersive sim, where nothing is planned and everything works

coming to Steam in Autumn 2024 pic.twitter.com/xRSh1rNfgk

— Stuffed Wombat (@wombatstuff) June 30, 2023

Don’t let this one’s simple looks fool you; it looks like there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Stuffed Wombat, Silkersoft, and Lukke have plenty more to share about Mosa Lina on its Steam page. Regarding the experimental project’s randomness, the team makes it clear: “There are no safeguards here.” Players might find themselves in nearly impossible-to-complete scenarios that see them getting the same, useless random item over and over again. You might even beat the game without seeing some items at all. It’s chaos and random generation in its purest form, and that’s the point.

Mosa Lina is meant to be an “aggressively random” answer to the popular “lock and key” design philosophy many games use. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with those games; it’s just that this inventive little project wants its physics-based platform puzzles to feel a little more… organic. There is no “right” answer for any of the challenges the game could throw at you.

“It’s literally impossible for me to check if all levels are beatable with all combinations of tools,” the Mosa Lina Steam page says. “This is what makes it so satisfying: There is no premeditated solution for you to follow. You’re forced to get creative. The game continually spits out randomised problems. It’s up to YOU to solve them, because I’ve never seen them before.”

Mosa Lina is so reliant on randomness that not even its creators have seen everything it has to offer. Regardless, the team says it’s easy to add new levels, tools, and challenges, so although lots of content has been cut from the launch build, players can expect to see more added post-release. As a small teaser, the team says, “There’s some really, really, really wonky stuff I’m looking forward to getting back to!” Stay tuned for more updates as we wait for Mosa Lina to launch on PC later this year.