LIMBO Best Games for 2011

Limbo (stylized as LIMBO) is a puzzle-platform gaming and also the premiere title of independent Danish game developer Playdead. The sport was launched in July 2010 like a platform exclusive title on Xbox Live Arcade, and was later re-released as part of a retail game pack along with Trials HD and 'Splosion Man in April 2011. Ports of the game towards the PlayStation Network and Microsoft Windows via Steam were created by Playdead, released following the year-long Xbox 360 exclusivity period was completed. Limbo is really a 2D sidescroller, incorporating a physics system that governs environmental objects and the player character. The ball player guides an unnamed boy through dangerous environments and traps as the boy searches for his sister. The developer built the game's puzzles expecting the ball player to fail before locating the correct solution. Playdead known as the style of play "trial and death", and used visually gruesome imagery for the boy's deaths to influence the ball player from unworkable solutions.

The sport is presented primarily in monochromatic black-and-white tones, using lighting, film grain effects and minimal ambient sounds to create an eerie atmosphere often associated with the horror genre. Journalists praised the dark presentation, describing the work as similar to film noir and German Expressionism. Depending on its aesthetics, reviewers classified Limbo to illustrate "video game as art".

Limbo received reviews that are positive, but was criticized because of its minimal story; some critics found the open-ended work to possess deeper and therefore tied well with the game's mechanics, while some believed the lack of significant plot and abrupt ending detracted from the game. A typical point of criticism from reviewers was that the very high cost the game in accordance with its short length might deter players from acquiring the title, however, many reviews proposed that Limbo had an ideal length. The title was the third-highest selling game about the Xbox Live Arcade service in 2010, generating around $7.5 million in revenue. The title won several awards from industry groups after its release, and was named among the top games for 2010 by a number of publications.

The main character in Limbo is a nameless boy who awakens in the center of a forest on the "edge of hell" (the game's title is obtained from the Latin limbus, meaning "edge"). The boy seeks his missing sister, and encounters just a few human characters that attack or run away from him. Once throughout the journey, the boy catches a peek at a lady character, but she vanishes before he can reach her.The forest eventually gives way to a crumbling city environment. On completing the final puzzle, the boy is thrown through a pane of glass and results in the forest again. The boy continues traveling until he encounters a girl. When he approaches, she stands up, startled; the game abruptly ends at this point.

The player controls the boy for the entire game. As is usual for most two-dimensional platform games, the ball player can make the boy run right or left on screen, jump, ascend short ledges or down and up ladders and ropes, and push or pull objects. The sport is presented through dark, greyscale graphics and with minimalist ambient sounds, creating an eerie, haunting environment. The dark visuals also hide numerous environmental and physical traps, such as bear traps about the forest floor or monsters within the shadows which will attempt to kill the boy. These monsters incorporate a giant spider and worms that dig into the boy's brain and force him to visit one way before worms are killed.

The second 1 / 2 of the sport features puzzles and traps involving more mechanical aspects, such as machinery, electromagnetism, and gravity. Several traps aren't apparent until triggered, often killing the boy. Should this happen, the ball player restarts the sport at the last checkpoint; there is no limit on how many times this will happen. However, the player could avoid these traps after which rely on them later, for example utilizing a bear trap to clamp onto an animal carcass at the end of a rope and pulling it taut, allowing the boy to climb up to some ledge which was otherwise unrealistic. Because these traps are not known before player activates them, the developers called the game a "trial and death" game, as the player will likely encounter numerous deaths before they solve each puzzle and complete the game. 

Many deaths are animated with images of dismemberment or beheading from the boy, but an optional gore filter blacks out the screen rather than showing these deaths.Game achievements (optional in-game goals) include finding hidden insect eggs and completing the game with five or fewer deaths.