the cutest puzzle game ever!!

ilomilo is an endearing puzzle game developed by southend interactive!! it was officially released for the xbox live arcade on january 5th, 2011, though it was released before this as a fun little secret.


ilomilo follows the story of the two player characters—ilo (red) and milo (blue)—who are best friends. every day, the two try to meet up in their favorite park. the problem is, also every day, the park gets more challenging to navigate through. in the game, the player takes control of ilo or milo, switching between the two, to allow the friends to see each other again. the player must use all sorts of blocks, angles, and even animals that they encounter to help the two safkas* reunite!

*safkas are the species that ilo and milo are! there are other safkas the player encounters in the game as well

the game also features hidden subplots that help give the game more substance. i'd talk more about them, but i have yet to fully understand them myself. the main one is between two characters, ilona and milton—these names are similar to ilo and milo, are they not?—long-time friends who ache to see each other again, and eventually the two run away and reunite. the other is a bitter tale about huntsman, his fiancé who desires a fox's fur, and an innocent fox.


despite the melancholy story, the game's graphics are very charming; the art style is stunning and vivid, vaguely steampunk-ish with all the gear motifs. the soundtrack, produced by daniel olsén, is lively and melodic, unlike anything i've heard in other video games. everything about this game is stunning!!!


i played it for the first time when i was a child, and me and my little sister would play it together all the time. when playing multiplayer, only one player can make a character move at a time, while the other player is supposed to help guide them. the other player, however, can press certain buttons which will make a little guy play an instrument! as a young child, i found it more entertaining to just mash buttons and create the most atrocious beat i could. it was fun! i love this game a lot.

below is the game trailer :)

quite a few of these were found from this tumblr blog, please go check them out!










this gif, along with the other two on this page, was created by martin paulsson!

the cover to a mini album of songs inspired by ilomilo's soundtrack. the album was produced by simon flesser. check it out here!

screenshots of the mobile version of ilomilo, released on the WP7, found in this review!