Stacking: The Lost Hobo King DLC review

This review is going to be very simple – if you enjoyed Stacking (reviewhere), you will enjoy the Lost Hobo King DLC. For $5, you get a new level, about the size of a level from the main Stacking game, with a self-contained story that's as charming as you'd expect. The format is identical, with multiple solutions to each puzzle, plenty of unique dolls to find and experiment with, and a list of hi-jinks to discover.

The story itself is separate from the plot of the main Stacking game, and you can play the Lost Hobo level whenever you want, even if you haven't beaten the main quest. Hobo Levi, the man who keeps track of all Charlie's accomplishments, asks Charlie to travel toa hobo villagecalled Camelfoot. There he must find and rescue three hobos who are the key to reforging the lost hobo crown, which will allow the hobo king to return to splendor and bring much-needed prosperity to the hobo kingdom.

This quest works exactly like any of Stacking's other levels – liberating each hobo constitutes the bulk of the puzzles, similar to gathering up all the explorers in Stacking's steamboat level. All the dolls here are new though, not just the unique ones, so playing around with each doll's ability goes a long way in stretching out TLHK's content.

Above: This guy's power revealshidden runes thatserve as puzzle hints

In all regards, The Lost Hobo King is on par with the rest of Stacking's content, and everythingwe've already saidabout Stacking applies here as well. Like Stacking, our primary enjoyment of Lost Hobo King comes from two things: the game's overall humor/personality, and the exploration of the world and its dolls. If you're someone who rushes through a game without taking the time to explore and experiment, the Lost Hobo King is not for you. If you hurry through and only do the bare minimum, you can technically beat the whole thing in under 30 minutes. The real fun though is in finding all the extras until you achieve 100% completion, and looking for every adorable reference and Easter eggy treat (references range from Psychonauts to Smashing Pumpkins).

Above: We'repurposely avoiding going into too much story detail because it's more enjoyable to experience it for yourself. If you've played Stacking, you know whatyou're getting into

If you've already played Stacking and you're on the fence about getting The Lost Hobo King, all you really need to know is that it's about the size of a Stacking level and the quality is as good as anything in the main game. Whether or not you want to shell out $5 for that is ultimately a personal decision.

Apr 7, 2011