Before diving into my own experience with the game, here’s the rundown for anyone unfamiliar: Left Not Right is developed and published by GamjaGames, and it’s set to release on Steam on August 20, 2026 (a free demo is available if you want to test your nerves before committing).
The pitch is deceptively simple, you control two characters, Lefty and Righty, one with each hand, at the same time. It’s strictly single-player, so don’t go looking for a co-op partner; the game just wants you to torture yourself solo. Whatever happens to one character happens to the other too, since they share a single health pool, and you’re racing against a clock while dodging conveyor belts, electric shocks, switches, and other hazards built specifically to mess with your two-handed coordination.
It all takes place inside an underground AI research lab, and part of the story hook is figuring out why Lefty and Righty look so suspiciously identical. With that context out of the way, here’s how it actually felt to play it.
A rough start, but a handsome one
I had a difficult time playing this game. The issue for me, ironically, was two-fold. Besides having to split my attention between 2 characters (which is something I can’t do, it’s like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time), I also had to watch out for all of the various dangers that the characters face in the game. And for full transparency’s sake, I am not good at puzzle games. So my point of view will absolutely be biased.
Before I go into more detail about my time slogging my way through this game’s increasingly hellish death traps, I will absolutely sing its praises about its presentation. It does a wonderful job using its 8-Bit graphics and music to its full advantage. The characters are well designed and the limited animations excellently convey the setting; that of which is an underground laboratory/testing facility for Artificial Intelligence robots.
The music is very catchy as well. Though it might also be attributed to the stress of managing to solve the puzzles and splitting my attention, but after one particularly stressful gaming session, I could still hear the game’s music playing in my head while I was trying to sleep. The music was done well, and its chiptunes style could easily be listened to without the context of the game itself.
As a big sci-fi fan, I also appreciated the game’s story. Though it has a morbid beginning, the way the characters’ personalities change over the course of the adventure was fun to see. The plot was delivered at enough of a pace that you could grasp what was happening, and I did enjoy some of the twists that were thrown in. Though the ultimate revelation of who the characters really are didn’t exactly hit me with the emotional impact that the developers probably intended, I thought it was entertaining enough. I won’t spoil the ending itself in case you the reader want to pick up this game. I’ll just say your mileage may vary once you complete the story and find out everything there is to know.
Now for the part I was dreading having to write about.
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Two hands, one nervous system, zero mercy
As I said from the outset, I’m not good at puzzle games. I think the last game I walked into like this was Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. This game, Left Not Right, was more reminiscent of Super Meat Boy but with the added challenge of controlling 2 characters simultaneously. I knew I was going to have a tough time going into this, so yes, I played the game on Easy Mode. And even still, the amount of things that I had to watch out for tested my every nerve and my ability to concentrate on what I was doing. Also I died…a lot.
Besides just trying to get from one end of the room to the next, you have a timer that you have to pay attention to. On top of that, the 2 characters share a health meter. So if you take damage, or if the timer runs out, you fail the level. Add to that the fact that some of the walls cannot be touched, as those will damage the characters. And to keep adding to the misery, some levels will cause the controls of the characters to switch after a certain amount of time. And in some levels, you have to keep the characters moving or they will suffer a kind of mental shock and a loud alarm sound effect will ring in your ears. I heard that alarm blare so many times, I feel like I lost a few brain cells. Now, in addition to what I just wrote, add in tracking lasers, cannon balls, electrified floors, and floor panels that move in the opposite direction while dealing with the control switching and simultaneous movement…and it all adds up to a gigantic headache.
There are 12 worlds/floors in this game that you have to clear and each world is made up of 8 levels. Strange as it may seem, the levels did not seem to gradually curve upward in difficulty. Some of the earlier levels on a particular world felt harder than others, and some of the latter levels felt oddly easier. I don’t know if that’s a pacing issue or a level planning issue, it just left me feeling confused at times.
I remember screaming at the screen, and to the developers, “ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH HAZARDS?!” after one particular level because a large section of the floor had moving panels that essentially moved like a vortex. Having to navigate that vortex on top of the other hazards, timers, health meters, and extra challenges thrown in almost made me want to quit the game right then and there.
I honestly don’t feel like I got any better at the game as time went on. It just seemed like I lucked out in reaching the goal, not necessarily because I figured out the game’s mechanics. Some levels made me feel like “well that wasn’t so bad”, but other levels absolutely made my brain hurt and it took multiple tries before I finally succeeded in solving the puzzle, getting to the end of the room, and not taking too much damage. Overall, it was absolutely a brute force effort to play through the entire campaign.
Final verdict: A NES-era fever dream
If you’re a fan of puzzle games, or if you just like a challenge, this game might be for you. It absolutely brought me back to the challenging days of old school NES games like Rad Racer, Mega Man 1, and Punch Out, games that had timers and nerve testing challenges. I just don’t think my mind can personally take the stress anymore.
I’m ultimately giving this game a 6 out of 10 rating. I don’t think it’s a bad game overall. It just wasn’t for me personally. I think the developer set out to do what they intended to do, and for that I congratulate them wholeheartedly.
So, would you dare put your two hands, and your patience, to the test with Left Not Right? Let us know in the comments!