Who's Lila

An in game screenshot from Who's Lila. The left side of the screen shows an old pickup-style landline phone. The right shows a young man with a neutral expression. He has dark short hair. A green and blue duotone effect was applied to the image. The game naturally has a dithering effect.

Written 06/01/26

Unfortunately, we have come to the point where I have to write my first aimless and confused write up. Two games in.

Who's Lila is a special game. I have been reading Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design, so if I may apply the books lenses and make this sound like a discussion board: Who's Lila sticks out largely as a toy and experience-based game. I'm certain players would get something out of a replay, but going into the first playthrough blind is what's going to be most exciting.

Gameplay

Being a toy is not demeaning or negative; a good game probably should be a toy. I was having fun manipulating the faces and trying to imagine all the underlying code and systems that made everything work.

From playing through all the endings, I could argue that this system was not utilized enough, and expressions don't affect the game outside of a concentrated string of endings, but I feel unfair saying that. Even if that is a true assertion, the game still has a great cohesion between its gameplay and story that more than justifies the face manipulation as a mechanic.

I played Who's Lila consistently. Once I started, I did not take any long, multiday breaks until it was over, because I was engrossed by its mystery.

For the first half of the endings I got, the game had an excellent flow. Going ending to ending plays out naturally since things change at the start of a new save, or you have a fairly good idea at what to try differently.

The flow was also enhanced by some of the games "gimmicks". A good portion of the endings have some form of surprising element that kept the game fresh and exciting

Art

An in game, cropped screenshot from Who's Lila. The image shows a young man with a neutral expression. He has dark short hair. The photo shows his body from the collar bone up, only a little bit of his shirt is visible. A green and blue duotone effect was applied to the image. The game naturally has a dithering effect.

I will go into my exact feelings in the next section, but I will say in advance that what has stuck with me most is Who's Lila's art and presentation.

The cutscene direction in specific was a standout to me, the editing in particular. I am not privy to cinema, but I was reminded of 20th century soviet cinema movements. Very Battleship Potemkin.

The gameplay screen layout is also provocative. Giving expressions half of the screen real estate furthers the game's theming. Every detail of an expression is served to the player, so they have no choice but to engage and analyze. It also forms a deeper connection with the characters as you are in a face-to-face conversation with them, especially with your player character.

After getting the first ending that showed credits, I was shocked to see that most of the character's face assets were generated.

I have seen some people write off the whole game for this, and anyone can feel how they want about it, but I think many ignore how generative tools were viewed in 2022. Generative tools did not have as much baggage; many saw them as gimmicks or ways to create uncanny visuals.

Again, I'm not shaming anyone who does not want to engage with the game due to its generation (I'm about to tell you that I'm not a fan), but I do think we could benefit from looking at early generative work in the context that it came up in.

Once I learned about the generated faces, it was often in the back of my mind due to how superfluous it felt. Who's Lila applies a wonderful dithering effect and duo-toned palettes. At first glance, it seems all style, but these effects also hide technical flaws expertly. You have to look hard at the game to notice the blocky and primitive 3D model used for the main character.

Who's Lila makes a great case that any game can look good even with limited tools and assets. The images used could have easily been photographs. The styling is so impactful that the generated images don't even give an uncanny effect; they look normal with the filters.

I will acknowledge that this solution is not as simple as I write it off. Photography still requires a level of skill, and open-source photos are often in muddy waters. For a game about faces, you need to make sure everyone involved is comfortable with having their face in the game, but all asset creation has challenges.

Reflection

An in game screenshot from Who's Lila. The left side of the screen shows a face covered in shadows. It is facing to the right, only its nose to its forehead is visible. The bottom of the left screen has a textbox that reads '150'. The right shows a young man with a neutral expression. He has dark short hair. A green and blue duotone effect was applied to the image. The game naturally has a dithering effect.

I finished Who's Lila a week ago, so I have had time to think about it and digest it. You may have noticed that all my writing so far has been surface level. You could play the game for an hour and say the same things I have. That's because I have no feelings about Who's Lila on a deeper level.

I have no idea how this has happened. The crafted experience worked for me, but I don't remember many of the minute details. None of this is the game's fault; I think anyone should play it.

Earlier I mentioned the game mostly has good flow, for me it all broke apart while I was trying to get all the endings. Having an open game is good, but it makes it harder to craft the player's experience.

Everything interesting was front loaded in Who's Lila during my playthrough. In the end, I was left with endings that were all similar with slight differences. The police interrogation endings in particular were disappointing. They feel like the only times where your expressions affect the ending outcome, but they are (relatively) long-winded segments. I may be wrong about this, but it seems like only a few expressions out of dozen really affect the outcome of these interrogations.

I'm not inherently interested in ARGs, but I like mixed media. I was charmed by the carrds and daemon, but they did not make a lasting impression in the long run. My ending order stifled the daemon in particular; I kept the application open for the entire game, but it only affected a handful of interactions that happened shortly after I got the daemon. In the end it felt like a gimmick rather than a cool moment.

I have a deep respect for games with open endings, but I was only drawn to Who's Lila for its mysteries. The ending answers, and lack thereof, weren't exciting or satisfying to me. This is fully personal.

I like to think of myself as a philosophical person, but maybe I need to accept that it was something I was far more interested in when I was younger, I'm often more drawn to action than musings. I was never immersed in what Who's Lila had to say about consciousness, and near the end of the game this becomes the main topic of conversation.

For the game to hit for me, I think I needed to care about the characters, but I never got to that point. I only ever viewed them as references and symbols, in the end, when it was time to view Will as Will and Lila as Lila, I feel nothing. I saw the last ending, closed out of the game, and went to bed.

An in game, cropped screenshot from Who's Lila. The image shows a head mostly covered in shadows. The face is visible, but the the hair, ears, and neck are invisible. The expression is blank, but not necessarily neutral. The eyes look unfocused and the mouth is slightly agape. A green and blue duotone effect was applied to the image along with a halftone effect. The game naturally has a dithering effect.

Credits

All images were taken by me during my playthrough.

I liked that the game took place in Detroit. Shoutout.