‘Toby: The Secret Mine’ is a colorful take on ‘LIMBO’
Toby: The Secret Mine is a platforming adventure game inspired by LIMBO and Badlands. It released on Xbox One this past Friday, though it has been available on Steam since October of 2015. If you’ve played LIMBO and want more gameplay like it, then Toby: The Secret Mine might be what you’re looking for. Both game mechanics and graphics are similar as is the length of time required to complete it. Sadly, I don’t feel like Toby provides any significant improvements over LIMBO and I’m a little less fond of it in some respects.
As no dialogue or story appears in Toby: The Secret Mine, I’ll share the story provided by the developer.
“A peaceful way of life in a small mountain village is shattered. Someone has kidnapped most of its residents. A few brave souls tried to rescue their friends but none have returned.
… Brave little Toby didn’t want to just sit and wait to see what happens next, so he has set about on his own to solve the mystery. Entering the deep forest, he sees this may be an adventure bigger than him, but he won’t stop.”
Players jump immediately into the action as Toby and get straight into puzzle solving with only visual cues to guide them. Puzzles are mostly straightforward block or switch based, though some will require noticing clues in the environment. Brute force can also solve these puzzles, but (as was my experience) this can lead to spikes perforating your back over and over again. My biggest complaint about some puzzles is that they can’t be solved without first dying to them. A series of switches, for example, control saws further down the hall. You won’t understand how until you’ve literally run into them. This is so intrinsic to Toby that there’s an achievement after hitting your first hundred deaths. I prefer puzzles solved through reasoning rather than trial and error.
On the surface, the art direction of Toby seems pretty similar to that of LIMBO. Where LIMBO uses a foggy black and white aesthetic to create a dreamlike atmosphere, Toby uses a crisp and colorful background in most levels. Toby and other characters are shown entirely as silhouettes throughout the game, the same as LIMBO. The foreground gets a similar treatment in most levels except for the snow covered areas. The two games are similar, but not identical.
Toby: The Secret Mine is, unfortunately, a rather short game. My Xbox tells me that my play time was 36 minutes, though I have no idea where it gets that number. I estimate that I spent about 3 hours playing through the game’s twenty-one levels. That includes a total of 185 deaths and collecting 23 of 26 of Toby’s friends before seeing both of the game’s endings. In fact, I’m only one achievement short of a perfect game after one attempt. Toby also allows for level selection from the main menu so a second run isn’t needed to get the second ending. Even in pursuing a perfect achievement record, I can’t see a lot of call for a full replay.
I don’t want to give the impression that Toby: The Secret Mine is a bad game. As a puzzle platformer, it performs admirably in providing an experience that most fans of the genre would expect. Toby excels at balancing regular failures and forward progress, minimizing repetition after successes. Each level differs from its predecessor making the game constantly engaging. It’s just that I don’t feel like Toby brings enough innovation to get me excited about it. LIMBO enthralled me over 4 years ago precisely because it represented an innovative approach to a much beloved genre. Those left wanting more by LIMBO may feel that Toby helps sate that hunger. On its own, however, it may not end up being a wholly satisfying experience for all players.
Toby: The Secret Mine is available on Steam, Android, iOS, Xbox One, and Wii U.
