Limbo is a puzzle-platform video game with horror elements developed by independent studio Playdead and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game was released in July 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade, and has since been ported by Playdead to several other systems, including the PlayStation 3, Linux and Microsoft Windows. Limbo is a 2D side-scroller, incorporating a physics system that governs environmental objects and the player character. The player guides an unnamed boy through dangerous environments and traps as he searches for his sister. The developer built the game's puzzles expecting the player to fail before finding the correct solution. Playdead called the style of play "trial and death", and used gruesome imagery for the boy's deaths to steer the player from unworkable solutions.
Limbo (video game)
Limbo (video game)
A pre-release development screenshot, showing the boy crossing a dangerous chasm on a rope bridge. The game's art style and presentation have been consistent through the game's development cycle.
Arnt Jensen, game director of Playdead (left) and artist Morten Bramsen (back) receive the "Best Visual Art" award for Limbo from Tim Schafer at the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards.
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. Many puzzle games involve a real-time element and require quick thinking, such as Tetris (1985) and Lemmings (1991).
The Splatters, a physics based Xbox Live Arcade game