[5] The City of Lost Children is an adventure game loosely based on the 1995 film of the same name directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.

Reviewers generally remarked that the graphics are stunningly beautiful and atmospheric,[4][12][14][15][20] but criticized the excessive difficulty of finding objects[4][12][14][15][20] and the slow pace.

[12][14][15][20] A Next Generation critic explained, "To pick up an item, you must stand directly on top of it, a problem when most of the important objects aren't out in plain sight.

Even then, the vast majority of items are found almost by accident ..."[4] Josh Smith of GameSpot further remarked, "The game's puzzles are arbitrary and not particularly intuitive.

However, their co-reviewers Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer called it "A unique game that masochists should check out" and "heavy on atmosphere but lean on fun", respectively.