How Lorelei and the Laser Eyes went from a small project to 2024’s most ambitious game

It was a random day in March when I got a surprising email. The PR team for Annapurna Interactive had reached out to send over a preview build ofLorelei and the Laser Eyes. I wasn’t told when the game was coming out or even when I could write impressions on it. I’d end up even more puzzled when I downloaded it to my Steam account and realized that I’d been sent the full game despite the fact that no release date had been announced yet. I quite literally had no idea what I was in for at that moment. Weeks later, I was wrapping credits on one of the most remarkable games I’d ever played.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is 2024’s biggest surprise. Developed by Simogo, the puzzle-based adventure game is a remarkable design feat filled with incredibly clever mental challenges. It’s the kind of project that leaves one wondering how a group of developers could even come up with such a bold creative vision, let alone execute it as well as this. Weeks after finishing its final puzzle, I was desperate to learn everything I could about one of my new, all-time favorite games.

I’d get some of the answers I was so desperately looking for in an email interview with Simogo co-founder Simon Flesser. While he was careful to keep the mystifying game’s symbolism under wraps, Flesser gave me some insight into how the impressive project came together. What originally began as a small follow-up to Sayonara Wild Hearts soon became Simogo’s biggest and boldest game yet thanks to the power of iteration and creativity.

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Building the maze

Before Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Simogo’s last project was the critically acclaimedSayonara Wild Hearts. In that short rhythm game, players blow through a stylish, emotional story to the beat of some high-energy music. Rather than capitalizing on that success with a sequel or