Loddlenaut Review – A Peaceful Journey That Heals The Heart

I am afraid of the ocean. Games set in the ocean have never been something I’ve enjoyed. Loddlenaut‘s meditative gameplay and emotional journey have scrubbed away that fear, replacing it with adorable Loddles and a passion for purifying the water.

Loddlenaut isn’t a complex game. Players find themselves deposited in the contaminated ocean of an alien planet. Using a variety of scrubbing devices, you must remove the filth left by the evil corporation GUPPI and restore balance to the aquatic ecosystem.

Loddlenaut is a one-in-a-million game. It does everything it sets out to do perfectly, and the polish on every element is satisfying and delightful.

Key Details

• Publisher: Secret Mode
• Developer: Moon Lagoon
• Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
• Price: $19.99
• Review Copy Provided: Yes

An Ocean of Possibilities

I am a sucker for any game where I get to clean things. Whether it’s dirty houses in Powerwash Simulator or run-down buildings in House Flipper 2, I just can’t get enough of scrubbing and polishing. Thankfully, Loddlenaut‘s first and most important goal is all about cleaning.

With our handy blaster, hand vac, and other scrubbing devices, we set off into an ocean covered in muck. I appreciated the wide variety of garbage that needed cleaning, from trash and litter to sticky ooze. I particularly liked sucking up with microplastics with my vac. Watching the water become crystal clear is satisfying beyond words.

However, this cleaning job isn’t as easy as it looks. Our little scrubbing scuba diver has to keep an eye on their oxygen levels. To restore breathable air, they must gather up bubbles from plants, or swim through air jet rings near the home base. These rings can also be built using the materials received by recycling garbage.

The process of gathering garbage until your inventory is full, returning to base to recycle, and upgrading gear is methodical and gives the perfect sense of progression as each zone on the map is tidied up.

Little Loddles Everywhere

If you were afraid of facing this vast, underwater world alone, don’t worry – Loddles are here to keep you company.

Loddles are the primary life form of Gup-14, and the destruction of their habitat has left them covered in muck. Thankfully, we can gather them and take them through the air blaster rings to get them cleaned up.

After the rescue, these little buddies can follow our scuba diver around, or be placed in clean habitats to eat, grow, and develop skills.

When enough healthy, full-grown Loddles fill an environment on the map, biodiversity is achieved, and the Loddles’ unique abilities allow the ecosystem to flourish.

I can’t express enough how much I love this mechanic. There is something so beautiful about cleaning up the mess, nurturing the Loddles, and watching as a place once destroyed by trash is made beautiful and free once more.

As someone passionate about ocean conservation and global warming awareness, I felt Loddlenaut did a fantastic job of illustrating the struggles and damages of pollution without feeling bleak or guilt-trippy. It felt as if the idea of being aware was transformed into a meditation. I kept thinking, “We can do it, we can clean this up, we can make it beautiful”. It’s the same thoughts I have when picking up trash on the beaches of the United States West Coast during visits.

No Ocean Anxiety Here

As mentioned above, I am deeply afraid of the ocean. It’s not a cute fear, either. It’s the sort of fear that comes from looking down in deep water, seeing the bottom, and not being able to touch it. It grips my stomach, gives me vertigo, and leaves me paddling for safety.

Unfortunately, this makes games like Subnautica and Bioshock unplayable. I am always a little anxious about games set in the ocean, but Loddlenaut uses colors, atmosphere, and art style to create a magical world free of oceanic anxiety.

At no point while paddling along did I feel like I was in freefall hundreds of miles above the ocean floor. I didn’t get dizzy or anxious while scrubbing coral. Instead, the beautiful colors and whimsical art direction created a world that felt tangible and safe.

For anyone with anxiety or fears of deep water, Loddlenaut offers so much comfort and ensures the biomes you need to clean aren’t scary to explore.

Final Score – 9.5/10

If I could give this game a standing ovation, I would. Loddlenaut is a cozy masterpiece that enchants its audience while delivering important messages about protecting the beauty of nature.

Loddlenaut is a meditative game that is perfect for every gamer of any age. If you need something relaxing, addictive, and fun, I highly encourage you to pick it up and start your own herd of Loddles.

Dive in. I promise it’s worth it.

**A Nintendo Switch review code was provided to Bonus Action for the purpose of this review**

About the Author

Laura Gray

Administrator

Laura Gray, known as Ezra when not putting pen to paper, is a D&D enthusiast with a love of all things written. They are a collector of fantasy and sci-fi novels, a lover of cooking weird food, and a player of farming sims and Pokémon games. When not engrossed in a re-read of Anne McCaffrey or a deep dive into the Adventure Zone: Balance, they can be found sniffing the cats and napping in half-finished crochet projects.

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