Lumberhill

As somebody who grew up in a small logging town in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, it's common to see parades and festivals built around cutting down trees. The biggest event was always Loggers' Playday, where the community would come together to watch ax men and chainsaw wranglers perform in all kinds of themed activities. I have to imagine that the new game Lumberhill would have been a big hit with the bark-loving attendees at Loggers' Playday. It's a game where we ignore all safety precautions in order to fall trees and deliver wood to the local sawmill as quickly as possible. That may sound like back-breaking work, but somehow first-time developer 2BIGO Studio has turned chopping down trees into one of the year's more enjoyable party games.

Lumberhill is a game about speed logging. You play one of dozens of cartoony characters who only has three minutes to complete as many jobs as they can get to. These missions can be anything from chopping down a number of trees to herding animals into their pens. We earn points for every completed task, so the goal is to rush around the single-screen stages juggling the different jobs before time runs out. Simple, right?

Not so fast. Although it has a simple concept, Lumberhill is not going to make it easy on you. For one thing, the sawmills and animal pens are often inconveniently located and separated by a destroyed bridge or raging river. We'll also have to put up with weather conditions, such as heavy winds and even lightning that will start forest fires. And all that's before you piss off the dynamite-throwing pirates and the constantly-hungry tyrannosaurus rex. You're going to have to put up with a lot of obstacles getting in the way if you want to complete the missions before time runs out.

Our logging adventure is spread across five different locations, four of which have ten stages to complete. These start off as spots on a world tour, including a generic forest, Hawaii and Asia. However, by the end of the game, we've travel back in time to harvest prehistoric trees and collect dinosaurs. Each of these different locations has their own look, trees and animals, which adds some exciting new wrinkles to the festivities. For example, later stages will have us trying to lure the animals to their pens, while another level will challenge you to take an egg without getting gobbled up by an angry tetradactyl momma.

As a single-player game, these levels shake up the missions enough to keep things fresh, for the most part. The central conceit of logging and herding is simple and engaging, while the depth comes from learning to navigate the increasingly tough terrain and finding the most effective shortcuts. All of these campaign stages can be played with a second player, which really ups the amount of chaos happening in the tiny locations. It's really the best way to experience the campaign mode.

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In fact, I suspect that the competitive elements of Lumberhill will be what keep you coming back. The absolute lunacy that comes with scrambling to outdo the other loggers is where this game shines, and it's nice that we get both local and online multiplayer support. Even though there weren't a ton of competitive games happening when I played it for review, it was still easy to see when people were looking. The game does a good job of popping requests on screen, making for a seamless transition from the campaign to the multiplayer. I don't know if it will have legs, but I can definitely see myself bringing this out at parties. It's so easy to learn and accessible to play that I can see it being a big hit with pretty much anybody.

For solo players who aren't interested in going online, Lumberhill may not have enough wool on the sheep. While I appreciate all the wrinkles the game throws at us, I can't help but feel like it's not enough. It's as if we're always juggling two balls and never graduate to three. And once you get the hang of locating shortcuts and dealing with the weather conditions, you'll find that a lot of the levels are a bit too easy. I love all of the new missions and dinosaurs you need to contend with in the prehistoric stage, but it ends just as it's starting to get good. If you're the type of player who will likely never jump into the competitive multiplayer scene, then there may not be enough here to warrant the full asking price. Wannabe lumberjacks may want to wait for a steep sale.

Lumberhill gets points for originality. Who knew that competitive logging could be this much fun? As a multiplayer game, this debut release from 2BIGO Studio is a blast. There's a level of controlled chaos here that you don't see in a lot of other games, and I love the cartoony look and nonstop back-and-forth. Unfortunately, the shallow gameplay and too-similar missions make the campaign mode feel more repetitive than it should, and the whole thing is over just as it's starting to heat up. Lumberhill is recommended for fans of quirky multiplayer games, but everybody else may want to think twice before cutting down that tree.