The House of Hikmah review: Labyrinths of the mind & soul

Lunacy Studios taps the philosophical depth of Islamic Golden Age Scholars in a puzzle platforming journey about grief and growth.

Grief over loss of a loved one is a very difficult crucible to overcome, especially when one feels like their loved one was taken unfairly from them. That said, I doubt many of us had the therapy of Islamic Golden Age Scholars and the House of Wisdom to guide us through our hang-ups. Lunacy Studios’ The House of Hikmah is that, and in addition to the wisdom and support of some of ancient Islam’s greatest minds and philosophies, this House of Wisdom brings some impressive puzzle platforming in a beautiful tapestry of environments in this journey about grief, growth, and acceptance.

The House calls to the wanting heart

The House of Hikmah opens on the story of Maya, whose father - a genius navigator - has just recently died on a voyage overseas. Maya is lost and grieving when she receives a message to go to the House of Wisdom and lend her aid to its keepers, the Scholars. Maya goes there and finds it is a dreamlike sanctuary where each Scholar has manifested their own domain in mystic labyrinths. But something is wrong. A shadow lurks in the wake of Maya’s father’s death and the hearts of all who knew him. Maya will have to help each Scholar sort their domain, fighting back the doubt in her heart, and discovering the secrets of her father’s legacy.

To aid Maya in this endeavor, she discovers a gadget left to her, the Key. It can be pointed at “mystic objects” to transmute them into unique forms that can then be used to solve various puzzles throughout each Scholar’s domain. The environments are easily a highlight of this whole adventure. Each Scholar’s domain is a gorgeous representation of their minds, discoveries, and philosophies, and they manifest into exciting thematic levels. One such is Jabir ibn Hayyan, whose alchemical pursuits and dedication to balance result in a world of towering scales and weights. Meanwhile, Ismail al-Jazari is a genius inventor, engineer, and master of machinery whose domain manifests as a valley of giant clockwork, windy pipes, and water siphons. Every domain was a blast to explore with thematic puzzles accentuating them further, and the music is a beautiful array of classic sounds that add excellent flavor to each domain and its challenges.

The House of Hikmah is voiced in both English and Arabic, and voiced well at that, giving even more life to the game. However, as much as the cutscenes focus on the characters, and even animate their bodies as they speak, for some reason, nobody moves their lips. It’s a little odd given how much everyone talks and moves and how the camera focuses on them in cutscenes and dialogue. There are also slight issues with lighting and visual glitches that sometimes affected shadows appearing and disappearing, textures popping in shortly after a scene opens, and even an instance where when Maya was talking to someone in one spot, her character model remained in the background where I’d begun the interaction. They are little things, but they distract noticeably when everything else is so beautiful.

A key’s job is to turn

In terms of gameplay, The House of Hikmah is a puzzle platformer. As you travel through each Scholar’s domain, Maya’s Key bracer gathers powers from each realm to expand her control over different interactable objects. You start with being able to turn mystic objects invisible and weightless, allowing Maya or other objects to pass through them. Then we get a metal transmutation that makes objects hard, heavy, and able to hold down weights and reflect light. Each power adds new layers of puzzle-solving to the game that I enjoyed exploring.

The way they are applied to levels is clever and satisfying to solve as well. As mentioned prior, each Scholar’s domain is themed to their expertise and that extends to the puzzles. Jabir ibn Hayyan’s domain demands you balance scales and other such weighted puzzles by manipulating objects, increasing and decreasing their weight, and moving them around. Meanwhile, a later domain adds glass powers to your transmutation and features a gauntlet of challenges based around reflecting light beams through metal objects, which directly reflect light, and glass objects, which bends the light in different directions.

As much as I loved running through The House of Hikmah’s surreal domains and solving their issues, I wasn’t always thrilled about the actual platforming. The puzzles are fine, but the feel of movement was odd to me. The characters are a bit floaty and, when it came to contextual action, I found myself running into jank in a lot of places where hitting accurate jumps or ledges were involved. The House of Hikmah doesn’t really have deaths, so the price of failure is very light, but it was still frustrating to jump to a ledge, see Maya grab and climb up, only to fall off the end anyways. Thankfully, the puzzles themselves are proper brain benders, especially later in the game, and did well to keep me engaged where platforming sometimes let me down.

Wisdom is not always a pursuit, but rather an open ear

The House of Hikmah is a unique game, indeed. I felt for Maya and her plight, as well as marveled at the sight and representation of various real-world larger-than-life historical figures as they all helped each other out. Lunacy Studios did well to take these Scholars and expand their legends into levels that were satisfying to solve. What’s more, the story playing out as Maya aids the Scholars and shines a light on the doubt in her own heart is a warming tale. There’s some jank here that kicks up dust on the overall presentation, but it’s not anything that wholly takes away from the beautiful environments and crafty puzzles that fill The House of Hikmah.

This review is based on an early PC copy provided by the publisher. The House of Hikmah launches on PC on April 8, 2026.

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Review for
The House of Hikmah
7
Pros

• Gorgeous and surreal environments
• Enjoyably tricky puzzles informed by each Scholar and their domain
• Interesting cast of characters inspired by real-world legends
• A well-voiced narrative
• Beautiful soundtrack

Cons

• Platforming feels somewhat floaty and buggy
• Heavily animated characters lacking lip movement
• Occasional visual hiccups