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I've only known my Loddles for a few days, but I'm already ready to defend them with my life. I found the little guys floating around in less than ideal habitats which were littered with trash and covered in toxic goo. The poor Loddles were having to deal with polluted waters which prevented them from living their best lives, so I took it upon myself to clean it up and maybe got a little too attached in the process.
In Loddlenaut, you're an interstellar custodian who is sent to clean up a polluted ocean planet called GUP-14. While scrubbing Ripple Reef, I stumbled across my first Loddle, a little green one that I quickly befriended and named Stella from a range of random suggestions. Once I cleaned up Stella's surroundings, I made sure to make her as comfortable as possible in her upgraded home. Not only can you name your little Loddle, but you can also feed them a snack, and craft toys for them to play with.
I wasn't even supposed to meet with the Loddles while exploring GUP-14. Dave, our supervisor, was pretty against me befriending them but eventually gave in once he realised how harmless they were - so long as they didn't distract from the main mission. So now I'm a mother to five of them, with my collection expected to increase as my time with Loddlenaut
Galaxy guppies
Loddles aside, there's a lot to be getting on with in Loddlenaut. The main objective is to clear the goo and collect the litter, but it's much more satisfying than it sounds. Using a bubble gun to pick up any debris and laser off the stubborn oil, the chill adventure game feels like an alternative version of Power Wash Simulator. I felt so productive picking up the trash, sorting it into the right recycling bins, and washing away the sticky black ooze - especially once I started doing it to benefit the Loddles and not just to clean up after a mega corporation.
As well as being satisfying, Loddlenaut is an extremely relaxing game. I could tell as early as the game's start-up menu that I was about to live my best cozy gaming life. The music is exactly what you'd expect to hear when exploring an underwater planet and the general vibe of the game is pretty laid back. The whole thing just feels so wholesome; I loved going about my day, making a difference to the lives of Loddles and cleaning up the ocean.
There was one thing that took away from that vibe, though. Understandably, our Loddlenaut needs oxygen to live, so they can only explore certain parts of the ocean without needing to top-up their air supply. This often meant that I'd be off somewhere in the game's cute, open-world and suddenly the oxygen counter would start going down. Then, I'd be forced to drop whatever I was doing to run to the nearest oxygen ring to take a breather. To be fair to developer Moon Lagoon, there are ways to upgrade your equipment so that the time you can spend away from the base gets longer, but at the very start of the game, it can be a little jarring when you find yourself racing for air.
Relaxing reef
One of the biggest takeaways from Loddlenaut is its message about caring for our oceans. GUP-14 may be located somewhere else in the galaxy, but it's not exactly unheard of to find plastic, rubbish, and everything in between in our seas. This fact hasn't been lost on Moon Lagoon or publisher Secret Mode, who not only announced the game's release date on World Cleanup Day last year (September 16), but also released a beach clean-up video to promote Loddlenaut ahead of its release, with a promise to donate a small portion of the game's profits to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity.
I've only spent a short amount of time with Loddlenaut so far, but I'm already so proud of the parts of the ocean I've cleared and the creatures my little Loddles are turning into. It's the perfect game if you're looking for something to chill out and unwind in. Interacting with a bunch of cute axolotyl-looking critters is a highlight, but it also makes you feel both productive and that you're doing something good, even if it is only in the virtual world. Just be prepared to adopt a lot of Loddles.
Loddlenaut is out now on PC. You can find out what other hidden gems we've been playing with our Indie Spotlight series.
