If you are a fan of Lemmings games from the 1980’s and ’90’s, stop reading. Go buy Lemmings Revolution. Now! It’s more challenging, more visually appealing, and easier to operate than the earlier incarnations, and the Lemmings are still unbearably cute.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with the history of the Lemmings games may have heard of real live lemmings, rodents that have been known to plunge off cliffs in communal suicide. The digital Lemmings aren’t any smarter, and it’s your job to guide them to the waiting hot air balloons that will carry them to safety without allowing them to drown, fall to their deaths, melt in a vat of acid, or otherwise meet their demise.
Helpful skills, such as the ability to build a bridge over a hole in the path or bash through a wall that blocks the way, can be assigned to individual Lemmings. However, only a limited number of Lemmings can be taught each skill, and the other members of the tribe will not stand still while a skilled Lemming finishes his task, unless you can find a way to confine them.
The puzzle area itself provides a unique twist. Instead of the two-dimensional, rectangular play area that’s typically used in this type of game, each puzzle is constructed on a cylindrical base, as if wrapped around a tree trunk. The Lemmings can walk around the entire structure if there are no obstacles in their path, and it’s easy to lose track of some of them while working with another group on the other side, if you’re not paying attention.
The only great aggravation in playing this game involves saving your progress through the puzzles. First, only one game in progress can be saved at any time. For a household containing more than one puzzle fan, this can be a problem.
The second issue, which is much more frustrating, is the inability to save your progress within an individual puzzle screen. Checkpoints would be welcome in higher-level puzzles in particular, where one misstep can ruin a long and winding path of painstaking construction.
Despite this administrative shortcoming, Lemmings Revolution is an engaging puzzle game, which will challenge any strategist. It earns a respectable 4 GiN Gems.