It looks like a more colourful Hollow Knight, plays like Machinarium and kicks like Ecco the Dolphin. Okay, maybe the last one not so much, though it does share the frustrating difficulty that comes from feeling utterly clueless as to what to do next.

Set in a melancholic world of weird turnip-like tribes you play as Teku who must head out to rescue the tribe’s kidnapped shaman. You and your trusty candle trek through forests, cities and temples to find your mentor, discovering a hidden backstory to the state of this fallen world along way.

Where Candle obviously shines is in its presentation. It boasts a hand-drawn aesthetic that is simply gorgeous. The detail is astonishing and while you’ll need to look at the details for the puzzles, you’ll more than likely find yourself doing so voluntarily. There are a few eerie, beautiful 2D games going around these days, but where Candle sets itself apart aesthetically is in its use of colour. This is no drab black and white world

Ostensibly, there’s a mix of platforming and graphic adventure here. In reality, the platforming is minimal. Sure, you have to jump from one ledge to another, but really there’s only one short section, on a mount, where you feel like you’re playing a platformer. This is at heart an old-school point-and-click game with all the idiosyncrasies involved with the genre.

And herein lies the problem for me; I don’t dislike graphic adventures off-hand: I’ve played a few of the Monkey Island and Discworld games amongst others. I find myself consistently admiring these types of titles, while wanting to keep a guide open at all times to avoid the inevitable brick-walls that will come my way. If I can avoid losing too much momentum, I have a good time though all the while knowing this clearly wasn’t how it was meant to be played. Perhaps I merely lack the patience required.

With all these games, including Candle, some puzzles are straightforward, others you find by trial-and-error, but all it takes is one that’s just that bit too cryptic or hidden to stop the whole game in its tracks. One egregious example here being the need to voluntarily drop off a ledge to catch a lower hidden ledge over a bottomless pit. Even after knowing what to do, I still couldn’t find a visual clue that there was a ledge there.

There is a real charm throughout the game’s 7-8 hour length. Not only are you treated to beautiful cutscenes, but other story elements are told via wordless dialogue with NPCs and a narrator. There are a few unique death scenes for you (when you screw up) and enemies (when you finally get it right), a few of which are dark comedy brilliance in their matter of factness. I can honestly say I enjoyed the ride, though I may have thought differently had I not kept the guide on hand from towards the end of the first act.

It’s quite simply a very fine example of point and click adventures. It is beautifully drawn and composed and pulls you in with a simple, yet well-presented story. Fans of the genre or the games-as-art crowd definitely don’t want to miss this one. However, if you find graphic adventures not to your taste, Candle won’t do much to light that fire.