Light Up The Town Preview: A Cozy Festive Experience

Over the years I’ve been on the look out for a good festive-themed game set around Christmas. Lake released its Seasons Greetings DLC a few years ago, which was pretty good, and I’ve played other games with levels set at Christmas or with the option to celebrate the season. Just recently, this game popped up on my radar, Light Up The Town, which has been designed just for this time of year. It’s festive, cozy, and charming, and worth a look if you’re looking for a game to get you into the spirit of the season.

A demo of Light Up The Town is now available on Steam. A release date of the full game is reported to be November 28th.

Story – A Town That Needs Decorating

In Light Up The Town, you play as Bean, a young ferret living with his dad in the town of Bellflower, Colorado. The Winter Festival is coming up and the town is in need of some festive decorations. With Bean’s dad Chuck unable to do much with his injured leg, it’s up to Bean to help out with the big task of decorating the town in time for the festival.

Although you only play a small portion of Light Up The Town in the demo, you still get to touch on the game’s story through the opening announcement in the car’s radio and with the dialogue between Bean and Chuck. It’s the concept of doing up a whole town that’s intriguing, that makes you want to see what more the game has to offer. Plus, there’s nothing better than getting you into the festive spirit than putting up decorations – not just your own, but the community’s as well.

Gameplay – Decorate to Your Heart’s Desire

The gameplay of Light Up The Town focuses on decorating buildings and other objects with string lights and other festive decorations such as tinsel, snowmen, and baubles. The only limit is your imagination – and what decorations you’ve unlocked so far.

Point and Click

Placing decorations in Light Up The Town is pretty straightforward. You just “equip” whatever type of decoration you want to use, point to where you want to place it in the world, and then click on the spot. Just like that, your decoration is up. If you have string decorations like lights or tinsel, you can create a chain until you simply snip the end off.

It’s just as easy, if not easier still, to set single-standing decorations like snowmen and baubles. You can also undo actions if you change your mind about something or put a decoration in the wrong place by accident. 

Light Up The Town doesn’t feel needlessly complicated, making it accessible for players of all ages to enjoy.

Something else that’s important to note is that while decorating, you can toggle between third person and first person view. This additional option is useful if you want to be more precise with decorating, or if you want to go off hunting for coins.

You start off by testing out your newfound decorating skills in the garage of Bean’s house.

Finding Coins for New Decorations

Although you only have limited access to decorations in the demo, you can still find coins in the demo level of Light Up The Town by exploring outside Bean’s snow-covered house. Collecting the dozen or so coins gives you the chance to try out the movement controls, i.e. moving about and jumping onto the roof to reach certain coins. In the full game, you can use coins to buy new decorations to give you more customization options. This feature gives you something extra to do other than just decorating, and will eventually allow you to have access to more decorations.

Graphics & Audio – Simply Stunning

One thing I really love about Light Up The Town is its gorgeous graphics and music, as well as its voice acting. Even from just playing the demo, the game feels so polished.

Everything about the graphics in Light Up The Town feels on point. Nothing feels off. Everything looks fantastic. It honestly feels like something that’s come straight out of the pages of a children’s storybook, being realistic and also charming. I also love the way the string lights glow and pop out, looking just perfect amongst the dark snowy night in the scene. The UI design has a nice look to it, too, being simple and clear to read and matching the theme and feel of the game.

Light Up The Town doesn’t just look visually great; it sounds it, too. Instrumental festive music plays in the background as you set about decorating and exploring the demo level. It’s not at all annoying or repetitive, and there are a few different-yet-familiar tunes to listen out for. I should talk about the voice acting, too, which you hear from the radio DJ, Bean, and Chuck. They all do a great job, really pulling you into the game, its story, and its setting.