Of the many factors that go into a good platforming game, charm is often assumed but never mentioned. It can come from being instantly likeable, like Mario or Rayman. As long as it isn't overdone, a bit of attitude can go a long way, such as with Sonic and Crash Bandicoot. Characters like Meat Boy are also charming due to their never-quit attitude when faced with the most heinous of challenges. Leo, the lead character from Leo's Fortune, has that charm, but it helps that the rest of the game holds up as well.

Leo is a world-renowned engineer who makes his fortune from many mechanical endeavors. Unfortunately, he wakes up one morning to see that his fortune is all gone. He discovers that whoever stole the gold is leaving bits of it behind, almost like a breadcrumb trail. He also has his suspicions that one of his three relatives, all of whom have lost their fortunes at some point, may have been the culprit. After leaving a note for his wife about his journey, Leo set out to retrieve his gold.

The standard adventure story is made rather quaint thanks to Leo's narration and observations. Speaking with a very noticeable Eastern European accent, he has a pretty calm outlook on the situation. Given the circumstances, his accusations aren't as biting as expected, and his reaction to the truth doesn't elicit much outrage. It isn't the reaction of someone who is bored or apathetic but of someone who seems to accept things that occur rather than being outraged when things don't go his way. It is during the actual levels where the worldly Leo's charm comes out. Getting over difficult tasks is met with an exclamation of success, he urges himself to hurry up, and he ponders the difficulty of a puzzle when faced with the challenge. One can't help but smile when hearing these minor touches.

Leo's Fortune is a physics-based platformer that is light on enemy interactions. Don't expect to see any minions or bosses roaming around on the 20 levels you go through. Whether you're in desert ruins or caves in the woods or rainy port villages, you have to get from one platform to another until you make it to the end of the level, and the only dangers you face are pits and spiked objects that litter the screen. For the most part, you'll jump from ledge to ledge, sometimes using momentum to push a chained platform or move a box to hit a switch, but you will encounter lots of slopes and loops along the way in addition to springs that bounce you from place to place.

In that sense, Leo almost feels like Sonic the Hedgehog, only reimagined as a small ball of fur with big eyes and a moustache. Though he can be speedy when running at full tilt, he's a pretty average platforming hero with the exception of two special abilities in his arsenal. The first is the ability to compress himself, which is usually done as a diving slam. Leo can use it to dive from great heights and put extra pressure on the spot he's landing on. The second is the ability to fluff up. It acts like a jump at first, but it also gives Leo the ability to float down and, in some cases, wedge himself into a space to stop moving altogether — great maneuvers for going over chasms and navigating spiked drops.

The stages really take advantage of these two abilities, and when combined with the physics system, the puzzles tend to work well. You encounter a few basic ones, like slamming and jumping on a platform to turn it into a springboard. You'll do the same thing in water levels to control your jumping height and in sky levels to control your elevation as the wind pushes you around. The physics system functions quite well and doesn't seem randomized. No matter how many times you perform the same move, you'll get the same result.

The stages come with three separate goals beyond just making it to the end: collect all of the gold coins, make it through without dying, and a time goal.  The time goal can only be achieved after you've gone through the stage several times to know what you'll be facing. Finishing each goal awards you with a star that can be used to unlock one of four bonus stages. Two of them count how many laps you can complete in the given time period while the other two have you completing them with as much time on the clock as possible. In both cases, the stages are brand new, so it doesn't feel like you're repeating stuff you've already played through.

There are only two things that put a damper on the fun. For one thing, Leo's Fortune isn't that difficult. The puzzles and obstacles are nice, but the solutions are readily apparent once you see the situation. Compounding the lack of difficulty is the fact that the game often gives you hints in each stage. It makes sense in the opening levels, which are treated like tutorial stages, but it's silly to see them in later levels.

The result of the lack of difficulty is a short game. The stages aren't very long and can usually be completed in six minutes. Give yourself two hours, and you'll knock out the game rather quickly. You unlock a hardcore mode that tasks you with trying to beat the game in one life, but that's about the extent of the replay value. Oddly, you expect more since the game is from the mobile world, where casual fare like this often takes a long time to complete when compared to a majority of games made for home platforms.

Graphically, Leo's Fortune is fantastic. His look is adorable in a distinguished way, but it is the realistic-looking fur on his body that is astounding. It doesn't move freely in the wind as you move, but it's impressive that you can see the individual hairs. The environments are expertly textured with a great use of color that features no blurred textures. The particle effects are also remarkable, particularly the fire, and they're abundant enough without feeling like they overwhelm the screen in an attempt to show off the system's graphical power. The art direction makes things lifelike, and the use of depth also impresses, especially with the whole package coming in at a solid frame rate. Whether in screenshots or in motion, the game looks exactly like you'd expect from a current-generation AAA title, and that's a testament to the quality of the work done by the development team.

Similarly, the audio is top-notch. As mentioned earlier, Leo's voice is a delight to hear thanks to the accent and his calm delivery. Though none of the lines end up being humorous, you'll still smile when you hear him speak. The highlight of this section is the music, which evokes the feeling of a big, sweeping epic adventure before you. The score hits all the right emotional notes and does a stellar job of setting the mood without feeling too frantic.

Though it's short and not overly difficult, Leo's Fortune is a solid platforming game. The gameplay may be simple, but the variety is there, and it doesn't take away from the fun of the stages. Despite its mobile indie roots, the presentation rivals that of big-budget titles. Though you're not going to spend a tremendous amount of time on it, you'll enjoy the experience, and with the low price point of $6.99, it is worth checking out for those who want a breezy, satisfying puzzle platformer for all ages.

Score: 8.0/10