ILA: A Frosty Glide

In ILA, you play as a young witch who is searching for her lost cat, Coco. You use a skateboard broom to navigate around, unlock upgrades, and find collectibles. I enjoyed the story of ILA, and I had a lot of fun exploring the world. There are a ton of hidden collectibles, and once you find Coco, he can point you in the direction of any collectibles you missed. That said, sometimes I felt like I had to fight the camera as I would try to look around, but the camera was locked in a certain angle. Despite that, I had a great time playing the game.

Cute, cozy little platformer in a small open world. My only complaint is that camera control sometimes gets taken away from you. I get that some players need that - but let us turn it off.

The visuals are genuinely beautiful, with a soft, atmospheric style that makes every area feel cozy and inviting. The story is adorable from start to finish. What really stood out to me is the animation when you’re gliding down a mountain. It feels smooth, free, and fun. It is a fairly short experience, but if you’re like me, you’ll probably spend extra time trying to 100% the game. That completionist loop adds a bit more playtime. Overall, it’s a small but lovely game — visually nice, cute, and memorable in its simplicity.

It's short, but if you don't mind that then it's pretty cozy. Mika and The Witch's Mountain is kind of just a better version of this game, but this still has it's place.

A Short cozy platformer game about a young wizard going to the mountain summit to look for her cat. Not very well optimized for Steam Deck, the game was stuttering from time to time, but gameplay wise it was rather easy and enjoyable.

小而美，美而精

[h3]<insert Disco Elysium joke here>[/h3] Okay okay okay here we go. Take [i]A Short Hike[/i], double the price, strip out the humor and charm, make the platforming unsatisfying (you have bad cornering in the air and drop like a rock after only a second of gliding), and neuter both the sense of progression (the world as a whole lacks verticality and everywhere looks exactly the same) and the progression itself (you get four [b]tiny[/b] extra jumps fairly early and a proper glide at the very end of the game). To cap it all off, market it as a "Perplexing Puzzle" game on Humble Bundle. None of this is good, but it isn't necessarily damning even when taken together. The problem arises when you remove all the rough elements and there's nothing left. It's ham and mayo on white bread. "You're a young witch trying to find a lost cat in the Alps" is a literal internet meme. There's this preconception that if you market your game as "cozy", it means you don't have to try as hard. If your colors are soft, your shapes are round, and your soundscape is minimalist, you're done. You aren't. It's possible to have a cozy game that's still engaging. I've seen it happen. I don't know. Maybe I'm burned out on "cozy" games. Maybe that's why I bought the Perplexing Puzzles pack on Humble Bundle which - again - this was included in. Maybe it's putting me off that so many other reviewers are recommending the game despite not liking it. Maybe I'm upset about the Steam Play compatibility issues I ran into (hence my supposed 0.1 hour playtime). Whatever the cause(s), ILA left me with a sour taste in my mouth.