The guys and gals at Ubisoft are hoping that most gamers reside in the former bivouac. And they're betting on rabid fans eager to dig up clues and roam Lost's recognizable island locals. To that end, they've created a new adventure video game called Lost: Via Domus and gathered together key people from Oceanic flight 815's passenger list (including Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Charlie, Claire, Sun, Hurley and Sayid).

Forgotten Flashbacks
Gamers relive the crash of that fated flight and find themselves regaining consciousness in the sand-filled shoes of a guy named Elliott Maslow—a photojournalist who has a lump on his head and no memory in it. As the Via Domus part of the game's title would indicate, Maslow has to find his way home. But first, he needs to unravel his own personal mystery by interacting with the other survivors, solving simple puzzles, completing quests around the island and—in true Lost fashion—remembering his past through a series of flashbacks.

Each trip down memory-lost lane is facilitated by a fragment of one of Maslow's past photographs. Players access what amounts to a "memory camera." Then once they're able to restage that snippet of photo in their mind's viewfinder they're treated to a cutscene replay of that particular backstory snapshot.

I won't give away the ups and downs of the tale, except to say that it involves Maslow's former girlfriend (who was murdered, and who shows up as a ghostly visitor on the island), a plot to perform illegal mind-altering experiments and a thug who is out to kill Maslow for taking an incriminating photo.

Lost enough for you?

As Seen on TV!
Fortunately, all of Via Domus' potentially deadly threats mostly steer clear of the blood and gore that some other adventure titles (and sometimes the TV show) use to develop their imagery. We do see a few victims of the plane crash, there is a small amount of pistol wielding and a couple punches are thrown, but big shoot-outs and wholesale bloodletting are avoided. The worst of the action takes place if and when poor choices are made near the end of the game—a central character can end up shot or blown up in an explosion.

With wise choices, however, gamers are led to an authentically twisty Lost conclusion. I can tell you this: It will take players by surprise and raise even more questions about the castaways' mysterious island home. And I can relay that the action is woven in and around the first two seasons of the TV show, as if Via Domus were a collection of missing episodes. (To aid that impression, each of the game's seven major chapters begin with a "Previously on Lost" clip and end with a cliffhanger.)

Watch for Free; Pay to Play
But as smart, restrained and entertaining as the game may sound, its relatively short seven hours of gameplay don't quite live up to the creative ideas behind it all (or its $60 price tag). For one, piecing together clues isn't that challenging. And the bartering system of trading coconuts, water bottles and cans of beer (which no one actually drinks), really isn't worth the time. The puzzles are almost as unsatisfying. Most of those are in the form of minigames that involve swapping out fuses in electrical panels to access everything from locked doors to fuel flow in the jetliner's fuselage. The initial challenges are fun, but eventually it starts to feel like you should to be earning time and a half for all your electrician's work.