Lost Nova Review

^{Published: April 30, 2026}

An Adventure That Doesn’t Try Too Hard

“It wasn’t a big, dramatic, heartbreaking experience, but most things don’t need to be. It was fun.”

This single line from Lost Nova sums up the game perfectly. The plot is lighthearted, you crash land on an alien planet with talking fruit and animals, and you just kind of roll with it, leisurely exploring as you fix your ship. Your character isn’t equipped to do much except jump around and shoot her laser gun but that’s part of the fun, because just those two simple actions allow you to explore the planet’s various terrains and meet its inhabitants.

Visuals and Sound

Visually and musically, I have no complaints for Lost Nova. The NPC’s are giving Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion but with a cosmic color palette. If you’re a fan of cute cartoon art, you’ll probably be on the same page as me here. I love these bubble-shaped characters with dot eyes and have no notes. The soft but uplifting electronic music fit nicely with the game’s cozy outer space setting.

Light Metroidvania Exploration

Lost Nova features light Metroidvania-style progression, where new areas of the map become accessible as you gain upgrades or advance the story. That said, it leans more toward cozy exploration than a full-fledged Metroidvania like Hollow Knight. The planet is fun to explore, and its inhabitants are quirky and often a little deadpan.

Gameplay That Doesn’t Push You

Nothing about Lost Nova is challenging. Every puzzle was easy to complete out with absolutely minimal brainpower. Most of your time is spent zapping things and waiting for your laser gun to recharge, with progression largely tied to spending money to buy items or services from NPCs.

I’m not going to outright say this is a bad thing, because the game is admittedly not trying to be challenging and maybe this is the kind of game you’re looking for. That said, I prefer when games make up for simplicity in one area with excellent execution in another. In this case, I think the overarching message could have been communicated more effectively with a some small tweaks, which I go over in the story section of this review.

Lost Nova is fairly grindy, but just as that was starting to wear on me, the game ended. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, wrapping up in about five hours. I enjoyed opening new areas and exploring, but once I had fully explored the final zone, I was ready to be done. There wasn’t much reason to stick around after the main story, since the extra tasks involved more grinding for money and buying items, and I felt like I had already done enough of that.

A Simple Story & Lesson

The lesson I took from Lost Nova is that it’s okay to do things simply for enjoyment. Our lives are worth living not because of what we produce or the work we do, and most things do not need to have some kind of profound meaning. I like the concept, but I think the game could have conveyed this message more coherently if we didn’t have to wait until the very end to gain insight into the main character, Mia.

Yes, creating a more involved story risks clashing with the game’s message that something doesn’t need to be a profound work of art to have value. But I do think some small tweaks to Lost Nova’s narrative could’ve helped the game convey this message better. For example, I would have liked to see a few more flashbacks to the main character’s past added to the beginning and middle of the story.

Only having this happen at the very end felt jarring, because we know almost nothing about Mia for the majority of the game. Then the story finishes just as we’re finally given some context through vivid flashbacks. It would have helped to have that context earlier when interacting with other characters, making it possible to draw parallels between their lives and Mia’s as the story unfolds.

TLDR / Final Thoughts

Just like one of the characters in Lost Nova says, this game wasn’t a “dramatic experience, but… it was fun.” Lost Nova isn’t trying to be the most impactful or groundbreaking new indie game, just a short escape to remind you it’s okay to stop and smell the roses. I liked exploring the cute, trippy alien world, and that’s the most important thing.

Lost Nova is very grindy but short enough to end just as that repetitiveness starts to wear on you. It reminded me slightly of a game I reviewed called Lila’s Sky Ark, another $15 light puzzle adventure with Metroidvania-inspired progression. However, Lila’s Sky Ark features more challenging puzzles and a more developed story that explores heavier themes. While I personally gravitate toward that deeper approach, Lost Nova is the better choice for players who prefer simpler gameplay and a lighter tone.