Lifted is a puzzle-platformer by a former Disney ride designer, and you feel it in every scene

There's a profession you don't spontaneously associate with video games, and yet: theme-park ride designer for Disney. Those people whose job is to orchestrate an experience, to dose the rhythm, the surprise and the wonder along a journey. Lifted is the work of one of them, and that origin shows immediately. This 2.5D puzzle-platformer plays less like a classic game than like an attraction you're the passenger of, and that's precisely what makes its charm.

The context

Lifted is a cinematic single-player 2.5D puzzle-platform adventure developed by Adventure Works, available since 22 July 2026 on PC. Its main argument lies in its creator's pedigree, a former Disney ride designer, whose sense of staging irrigates the whole game. You play Ari Buktu, a slacker who pokes his head into Professor Raventhorpe's lab for a quick errand, before finding himself dragged into the Anytime Elevator, a machine that will carry him far further than he imagined. It's a narrative adventure game, carried by spectacle more than challenge, and you should know that before boarding.

The gameplay: the attraction above all

What sets Lifted apart is its resolutely cinematic dimension, that sense of journey and staging that betrays its author's past. You advance through 2.5D scenes designed like stages, with a constant care for framing, rhythm and effect, where the camera and perspective are used to create spectacular moments rather than to test your reflexes. Each section resembles a segment of an attraction, with its build-up of tension, its set-piece and its visual reward. The Anytime Elevator concept, which carries the hero through varied environments, perfectly serves that logic of an orchestrated journey, where you discover the next set with a passenger's excitement.

On the mechanics side, the game marries platforming and puzzle-solving in a gentle, legible progression. The puzzles are designed to punctuate the adventure and keep the engagement rather than to trap you, in the great tradition of the narrative puzzle-platformer. You jump, you manipulate elements of the scenery, you solve atmospheric puzzles that move the story forward, all wrapped in a polished production that favors emotion and spectacle. It's not a game that seeks to put you in difficulty, it's a game that seeks to carry you along, and on that ground, its creator's expertise lands.

What sticks

You should stay lucid, because that cinematic stance has its downside. Like many narrative puzzle-platformers, Lifted favors experience over challenge, and whoever seeks twisted puzzles or demanding platforming will be left wanting. The mechanics serve the staging, not performance, and their owned simplicity may frustrate the fan of tough gameplay. It's a choice coherent with the game's ambition, that of an attraction more than a test of skill, but it precisely defines who it's for: more the player seeking a beautiful experience to live than the puzzler seeking sweat.

The other classic limit of the genre is length and replayability. A narrative adventure this polished is often savored in one sitting, but it rarely offers a reason to come back once the journey is over, and its value will depend a lot on its length and the richness of its staging. It's an experience to live, a journey to travel, rather than a game to tinker with over dozens of hours. You have to approach it for what it is, a lovely orchestrated stroll, and not for what it never sought to be.

What we take away

Lifted is a charming adventure that draws real strength from its creator's unexpected expertise. The sense of journey, rhythm and spectacle inherited from Disney ride design gives the game a polished staging and an ability to carry the player that few puzzle-platformers reach. Its traveling-elevator concept, its endearing slacker hero and its cinematic production make it a pleasant and well-crafted experience, to live as you'd take your seat in a beautiful attraction. For anyone who loves polished narrative adventures and the pleasure of the journey, it's a lovely discovery.

You just have to approach it with the right expectations. It's not a demanding puzzle-platformer or a game with sprawling replayability: it's a cinematic experience, to savor for its staging and its journey rather than its challenge. Its puzzles are gentle, its platforming accessible, and its value lies in emotion and spectacle more than in sweat. Taken as such, as a playable attraction orchestrated by someone who knows exactly what they're doing, Lifted fulfills its contract with elegance. You come away with a smile, as at the end of a good ride.

Verdict

A cinematic 2.5D puzzle-platformer carried by a former Disney ride designer's sense of spectacle: more a beautiful playable attraction than a challenge, but a polished and charming journey.

Strengths:

• A sense of staging and journey inherited from Disney rides
• A cinematic production that genuinely carries the player
• The Anytime Elevator concept, perfect for an orchestrated journey
• An endearing hero and a well-crafted adventure

Weaknesses:

• Puzzles and platforming too gentle for the challenge fan
• An experience to live more than a game with lasting replayability
• A value hanging on its length and the richness of its staging

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Tested on PC.