To the Edge of the Galaxy and Back
If you’ve ever been in love, you know it can be complicated. One minute you’re laughing, the next you’re teary-eyed and wondering why you’re yelling. When you’re in the thick of it, it can be hard to view the object of your affection with unbiased eyes. Their good qualities can far surpass any shortcomings. That’s precisely how I feel about Love You to Bits.
Love You to Bits from indie developer Alike Studios tells the bittersweet love story of Nova and Kosmo, ill-fated lovebirds on the lam. A fleet of intergalactic starships led by a very persistent pink t-rex (who also just so happens to be a mad scientist) pursues the couple. Suddenly, the scientist’s forces attack our protagonists’ ship. Nova, a purple female-presenting robot, is trying to steer their ship into safer space. They instruct Kosmo, the dorky human boy who looks suspiciously similar to Billy Hatcher from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, to open a wormhole. Kosmo open it and the enemy ships are pulled in. Sadly, the scientist’s vessel breaks free from the gravitational pull and blows the deck of the ship apart, scattering all but Nova’s head to the corners of the galaxy. Crestfallen, Kosmo picks up his love’s head and sets off to find their missing parts.
It’s All Coming Back to Me
In order to reconstruct Nova, players must travel the galaxy, visiting planets and solving puzzles in exchange for Nova’s parts. Kosmo’s controls are super simple—touch where you want him to travel and tap items and NPC’s to interact with them. Each planet holds a singular part of Nova and two or three hidden love tokens. These unlockable items serve as the game’s collectibles and allow you to reveal memories in the form of quick cutscenes. The cutscenes were always super cute, sweet and darkly humorous. They are also critically important to the game as they, along with the comic, which are found every few levels, tell the game’s story. The comic strips reveal the overarching plot, while the love tokens show specific moments of Nova and Kosmo’s relationship. Each piece was entertaining and genuinely made me want to find all of them to uncover the whole story.
Gameplay feels intuitive and immersive. There were times when I forgot I was playing a game and was consumed by curiosity. Levels and puzzles often vary not only in size but also in complexity. Some planetary levels are straightforward—the player walks around, touches stuff, retreads steps and solves the overarching puzzle. However, other levels are sprawling, requiring you to think critically and examine the environment for minute details. There are also Tomb Raider-style puzzles that require serious thought and a trial-and-error approach. One such puzzle requires you to complete a temple’s electrical current by manipulating rotating pieces of temple circuitry. These more complicated puzzles are optional for the more casual player, but are requisite for a completionist, as they reward players with love tokens. Overall, the puzzle variation keep the game flowing.
Starlight, Star Bright
Love You to Bits is a colorful, adorable game. The art style reminds me very much of the comic strip Cyanide and Happiness, but with a much more family-friendly approach. The characters have a stripped-down, almost stick-figure-like design, which I appreciate. This stylistic choice compliments the irreverent, silly tone. I am also impressed with how effortlessly the developers were able to tell their story through nonverbal means. There’s no dialogue, save for a few grunts or yelps, yet the characters are fully formed and ooze personality. I was often tickled by how Kosmo reacts to situations or player actions.
I also appreciate how nothing is wasted within the game. All of the interactions serve puzzle progression or foster a sense of discovery. And there’s a ton to discover. Love You to Bits stretches over 28 levels, which took me around six hours to complete. There are 60 different love tokens hidden amongst the planets and 21 achievements. All of the planets feel distinct and cleverly themed. I was consistently excited to see what the next planet would hold. If I had to find a flaw, I would say that sometimes the music became a bit repetitive, but that really only applied to the theme for the cutscene memories. It was a tad melodramatic, but it seems appropriate for the sardonic nature of the cutscenes.
At First Sight
Falling for with Love You to Bits was easy. It’s a confident game. Darkly funny and often complicated, Love You to Bitsisn’t afraid to woo you. If you spend your time in its capable hands, you’ll see that its parents were lifelong gamers and pop culture junkies. The game is teeming with references, and some of my favorite bits involved them. I hesitate to go into detail because Love You to Bits is a game that deserves a blind experience. It deserves to be known. Don’t we all?
