Pluto Lost Its Colors turns pure frustration into one satisfying, colorful mess

Some games hand you power-ups and open worlds. Pluto Lost Its Colors hands you two buttons and says, Good luck, you’ll need it.

You play as Pluto — yeah, the ex-planet — freshly drained of color after losing a cosmic brawl with a black hole. Instead of calling it a day, Pluto does what anyone facing an existential crisis would do: launches headfirst into the galaxy, determined to collect every last shard of color. It’s a vibe.

At first glance, the setup feels almost too simple. Jump. Dash. That’s it. No double-jump upgrades. No fancy combos. Just you, your timing, and whatever physics decide to throw your way. But somewhere between flinging yourself into the void for the fiftieth time and sticking the perfect landing, it hits you — this is good. Frustrating. Maddening. But so good.

The game doesn’t waste time. Every realm — space, dreams, quantum weirdness — becomes its own little obstacle course, daring you to make it to the next checkpoint. And those checkpoints? Tiny, beautiful oases that make you want to fist-pump when you finally reach them.

What keeps it addictive is the way Pluto Lost Its Colors toys with momentum. You’ll overshoot platforms, bounce off walls, and swear you had that jump lined up until gravity — or bad luck — said otherwise. But then you try again. And again. And somewhere along the way, muscle memory takes over. Suddenly, you’re pulling off perfect runs and wondering when you became this good.

There’s a little speedrunner bait tucked in here, too. The better you get, the riskier your routes. You start cutting corners, threading needles, and chasing that high of pulling off something you absolutely shouldn’t have survived. And when you nail it? Chef’s kiss.

Visually, the game rewards you every step of the way — Pluto regains its colors, accessories unlock, and somehow this little ball of cosmic sadness starts looking like a hero. It’s a small thing, but it sticks with you. Proof that, yeah, maybe the grind was worth it.

Pluto Lost Its Colors doesn’t hold your hand — it shoves you into the deep end and watches you figure it out. But if you’re the kind of player who lives for that satisfying loop of fail, learn, win — this one’s a ride you won’t want to stop.

Pluto Lost Its Color is available now on Steam.