Lake Reviews
Lake is careful not to waste your time even as it insists you take all the time you need.
Lake is a truly beautiful narrative adventure. The sound design is excellent and the story progresses in a delicate way, with feeling. An oasis of relax in a chaotic world that is always in a hurry.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Take a break and deliver mail in the beautiful town of Providence Oaks with Lake, an indie title from developer Gamious with a lot of cosy content—if you want there to be. Can Lake really satisfy that wholesome itch, or do technical flaws ruin the experience?
I loved my time in Lake and wished it lasted a bit longer. Though mail delivery doesn't sound so appealing, it was nice and relaxing to drive around a small town and take in the sights. Providence Oaks' town is full of people with big personalities that you can interact with however you want. It has some issues with pop-in issues and repetitive musical score, but it's easy to overlook these issues when the people of Providence Oaks are so delightful to talk to.
Glitches aside, we enjoyed every moment of our time with Lake. This six-or-so hour adventure forces you to take things slowly; to stop and think. That’s something we all could do with more of in this hectic, stressful world. Meredith may be fictional, as may be the gorgeous Providence Oaks, but the life choices she ponders during the course of the game are something we can all relate to. If you’re anything like us, you’ll rue the credits finally rolling, wishing you could continue to deliver mail in that small, sleepy town forever.
Lake is a narrative-driven postal simulator quite unlike any other. With a rich story, wonderful characters a beautiful town to explore, if you’re looking for something to ease your mind, you can’t go wrong.
Unconventional and even slower paced than most games we see out there, Lake is a great choice for those who feel anguished about the decisions they made for their own lives and who are looking for reflections that can somehow appease indecisions. It is also suitable for anyone who likes to enjoy a beautiful view along the road and casual conversations with different people.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Delivering mail and driving around familiar streets helped set that relaxing tone. The unique interactions between Meredith and the other characters in Providence Oaks gave me the right motivation to play through and invest me in her tale. Lake isn't just a game about delivering mail; Lake is about reconnecting, and it was quite enjoyable to guide Meredith to a life she will enjoy.
Personal grievances aside, I think Lake succeeds in its aims, and that’s the important thing. It set out to be a slice of small-town life, and that’s what it is. I think there’s a rather narrow audience for that kind of thing, but it will be perfect for those who know what they’re getting into. If you think you’d be into a narrative about escaping the city life, then here it is. The writing is solid, the production values are decent for its asking price, so it’s worthwhile to check out of that’s your thing. As for me, I’m just eager to get back to the city.
A charming journey into the American countryside. It's not the most original gaming experience and there are a few bugs that still needs solving, but thanks to its rich atmosphere and interesting characters Lake still manages to provide half a dozen hours of good entertainment.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A generally enjoyable narrative game with strong characters and writing, Lake is a pleasant way to pass the time when its technical faults aren't making things difficult.
We are conditioned to expect a gruesome crime or having to deal with some kind of a supernatural event when we are experiencing a small town story but Lake is a relaxing small adventure full of colorful characters that happens to take place in small town that is a welcome change of pace from stories with similar setting.
Review in Persian | Read full review
What Lake was for me was not a peaceful, slow-paced reflection on what matters most in life. Instead, it was an anxious and difficult exercise in letting go of things that don’t bring me joy, even if they might hold other values. And it was a reflection on queer experience and the radicalness of choosing what’s genuinely best for yourself despite others’ expectations. However, while some moments of my time playing was difficult, it was because of how I saw my own ongoing experience through Merrideth’s eyes. And if a game can make me do that through expertly crafted gameplay, a perfect soundtrack, and captivating characters and relationships alone, you can certainly color me impressed.
I don’t regret my stay in Providence Oaks, but like most vacations, I wish I had gotten to do more in the short time I had with the game. If you’re looking for a slice-of-life experience in a peaceful lake town and you don’t mind some bumps along the road, Lake might just be up your alley. If you want a narrative game with replay value where your choices affect the story, this vacation might leave you a little wanting.
Overall, Lake is a lovely addition to the narrative adventure genre — even if it doesn’t go so far as to push the boundaries of that genre — and offers a relaxed adventure which could serve as a welcome counterpoint to some of the chaos going on in today’s world. You can almost feel the stresses of Meredith’s city life melting away, although Lake does a good job of not pushing you towards one decision or another. It’s entirely up to you, after exploring Providence Oaks and working your way back into the lives of its people, to decide what Meredith should do next. I had fun in my time as Providence Oaks' mail carrier, and even though that job can feel a little stale at times, Lake's charming inhabitants and its gentle story make it more than worth a visit.
Between the walking simulator, and the video game experience, Lake is a contemplative title that takes advantage of rather well-written characters, and a system of dialogues impactful enough for us to think about the meaning of life and its priorities. No choice is better than the other, so the title really lets us opt for what we want, without it having a positive or negative impact on the gaming experience.
Review in French | Read full review
Lake is a lovely, slow-paced indie game to play in your downtime. Rich in personality and character, well worth replaying.
Lake is a short and enjoyable story-driven game with interesting mail delivery gameplay that drives you to get to know the townsfolk. The story and interactions provide much lighthearted fun so if you can get past the graphical issues and bugs, there's plenty to make you play Lake over and over so you can see how your decisions influence the people of Providence Oaks.
Lake is certainly not for everyone. It’s a very specific experience that tries as hard as possible to take as much ‘game’ out of the game and leave you only with the relaxing story element. And on balance, I’d say I enjoyed my time with Lake; I breezed around that leafy town not knowing if what I was doing mattered or if I really cared about that or not. It’s like having a day off work without any plans – the world is your oyster and there’s absolutely no pressure.
Lake is an extremely charming story-driven title where you can accidentally be so nice to everyone that you end up forgetting to live for yourself. For the right kind of person, that in and of itself can be a much-needed wake up call; for everyone else, it’s in the very least a soothing little mail-carrying simulator that allows you to set the pace. If you’re looking for some slice-of-life goodness that provides some chill and calming ambiance, taking it easy with Lake is a no-brainer.