Whilst we haven’t seen a lot of the game in the lead up to release, we did find out last month that the game would be exclusive to the streaming platform Stadia. This means you won’t see it on Steam until at least March 2021. “‘Stadia First’ - what does this means for other platforms? Steam shows plain 2020,” a commenter asked Modus Games on Twitter a few weeks back (thanks, PC Gamer), to which the publisher replied: “It will be exclusive to Stadia for the first year.” Steam has since been updated to reflect a 2021 release. “Featuring an immersive story crafted by renowned games writer Rhianna Pratchett, Lost Words: Beyond the Page will mesmerize players with its unique blend of gameplay mechanics and striking watercolour aesthetic,” the Stadia store says. “Driven by the player’s curiosity, the world of Estoria and the power it holds will serve as the engine that will propel Izzy through this deeply personal narrative, resulting in a truly memorable experience.” On the subject of Stadia exclusives, I described Stadia’s other exclusive, Gylt, as a “genuinely unsettling horror-lite” when I reviewed it last year. “While playing it safe and a tad predictable, Tequila Works carefully layers on new gimmicks and mechanics as you progress through Gylt, allowing you to organically build on your knowledge and start experimenting,” I said in the Eurogamer review. “It’s these flashes of inspiration that can make Gylt’s gentle puzzling such a joy, so it’s frustrating we don’t see more of them. And while there’s not much here for the hardcore horror fan, don’t be deceived into thinking the eerie, tense Gylt is just for kids: it’s really not. It is, however, a little expensive for such a brief, if atmospheric, experience.”
