Lumberhill Gameplay for Switch
Playing Lumberhill is fun whether it’s solo or multiplayer. It scales as well as any game based on timed rounds. Which is to say, not so great. However, the fun play and uncomplicated tasks make up for it.
In Lumberhill, you play as a Lumberjack filling orders for trees and animals. Obstacles in the environment, and a timer, supply challenges for you to overcome. Instead of a boss, the final level involves moving to several locations to complete orders to fill an ark.
Like all our multiplayer coop couch games, we played it through with 4 players. Then went back with less players to get all the achievements and stars we missed.
There are 5 worlds. The worlds have different trees and animals but the tasks remained the same. Collect trees and animals while avoiding the obstacles. And of course falling off the map.
The 5th and final world has one level. It’s a collection of all the animals and trees from the other worlds. You move to different locations in an effort to fill the ark.
Forest
This is the first world you play in. It’s easy because there aren’t many gaps to jump or obstacles such as fires or attacking animals. Orders are for trees or animals.
There are two types of animals. Rams and sheep. Sheep automatically move away from you. So you can chase and catch them individually or herd them. Herding them always works better.
Rams attack you if they get hit with an axe. They can’t be herded so you have to pick them up one at a time to throw them in the barn.
Trees require 3 hits with an axe to fall. Always chop so they fall away from the edge. Chopping down several trees at a time is fine for the forest level but it’s a bad habit to get in. Trees have a mind of their own and their will is bent to fall off the map.
Seriously, if they don’t immediately roll off the map sooner or later they will fall off the map. Chopping down several trees at a time is counterproductive in later levels because they almost always fall off the map before you can collect all of them.
We found jumping and trowing animals or trees at the barn or lumber mill saved a few steps. Plus get in the habit of running. You don’t need to run or jump much in this world but constantly running is crucial to getting all the stars and achievements.
The last level is this world is November. It’s also the hardest to get 3 stars. You have to use the platform to pass sheep and trees back and forth.
One player should stay on the left side to herd sheep onto the platform and fill the birch tree orders which only require 3 units.
While the other player(s) stay on the right and fling sheep into the barn since they can’t be herded there. Rams also have to be collected and thrown into the barn too.
The player(s) on the right should chop down the trees while waiting for more sheep. Then toss all those trees on the empty platform before sending it back.
Putting out fires is nearly a constant task on this level. Drop what you’re doing and put the fire out as soon as you hear the meteor land! You can run around on the meteor to put it out if you get there quick enough. Otherwise throw a bucket of water on it.
As a rule we usually build bridges, this level is the exception. We found not building the bridge allowed us to get the achievement.
Asia
In this world the tasks are the same however the animals are pandas and baby pandas. Pandas need lured with food instead of herded like sheep. They don’t attack like rams but we found they eat the food used to lure them if you stand still too long.
The trees look different but work the same as before. We chopped them down to fill orders.
In my experience tree orders that require 6 or 7 units are a waste of time. Don’t bother with them even if they are the only order. Instead get animals near the barn or chop down other trees. Another order will show up soon in my experience.
Asia introduces monkeys. These are the most annoying animals in the game in my opinion. In 4 player games we dedicated 1 player just for knocking them off the map, they’re that bad. Use the monkey hack to glitch them if you can.
Asia also introduces traveling on the final level: Lubu. You start in one area then move to another area after 3 minutes. While this isn’t hard you should get to the ship before it evacuates.
Getting animals and trees across the moving platforms isn’t difficult, it just takes patience. Take your time here.
We found one of the early levels is harder than the final level. Uminaoshi has a moving platform is similar to the final forest level. You have to utilize this platform to get 3 stars. We found tossing trees to the lower level worked as good as the platform for trees. Yet, moving animals the long way took too much time.
Hawaii
This world introduces sharks, pigs, boars, and pirates. The sharks don’t immediately eat you however get out of the water as quickly as you can. Boars are like rams, they don’t bother you unless you hit them with an axe.
This world isn’t much harder than the other two worlds in my experience. Focus on small orders, building bridges, and getting rid of powder charges from pirates.
Getting three stars wasn’t nearly as hard as the achievements. Such as don’t get killed or don’t let a boar die. Between all the canon fire and sharks the achievements were the hardest.
Obviously avoid falling in the water. But As soon as you see a pirate ship and hear that cannon fire. Get rid of the powder keg. It does a lot of damage and has a large blast area.
Hawaii also adds fishing. All you do is pull a lever when you see fish under the net. It works better if you do other tasks and occasionally pull the lever instead of committing too much time to fishing. Not in real life though, fish all you want.
Kurapika is the final level. As you move to different areas choose building bridges wisely. Bridges for animal traffic important. High traffic bridge is also good. But bridges to access trees aren’t important.
Dino
The Dino world introduces many new animals plus a few new tasks. New animals are the triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex, pterasour, brontosaurus, and Leedsichthys problematicus (man eating fish).
The triceratops and their babies are similar to pandas. Instead of herding them you lure them. The babies are lured with food. However, the mamas chase you when you pick up a baby triceratops. Similar to boars, triceratops also knock down trees .
The T-rex chases and eats you unless you hide in the grass. We found it’s best to have a player dedicated to distracting the T-rex otherwise it’s hard to get any animals or trees harvested.
The pterasour doesn’t like it when you take her eggs. Collecting eggs is a new task. You pick-up an egg from her nest then try to get it to the barn before she gets you. She can’t get you if you hide in the grass This is an easy order so don’t let any of these time out.
The brontosaurus is easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. You use its head for a bridge. The graphics and 3d modeling in Lumberhill are beautiful but the proportions and contrast make things difficult to distinguish. Smaller items, or a brontosaurus’s giant head, really blend in and are hard to spot!
The Leedsichthys problematicus is not hard to spot at all. Merely touch the water and this man eating fish takes you with one gulp! It’s unexpected and kinda hilarious the first time it gets you.
Apart from all the new animals, trees, and setting this world has you doing the same tasks. Collecting animals, eggs, and trees to complete orders. As usual, we found focusing on small orders, building bridges, putting out fires, and distracting the T-rex worked best.
Ark
While this world has only 1 level, in my experience, it is very difficult. This world combines elements from all the previous worlds. You’ll be collecting every type of tree and animal.
Like other final levels it has you moving to different locations every couple of minutes. It seems barely possible to get more than a couple orders filled before it’s time to evacuate.
This level is harder than November but not by much. Not only do you have to focus on putting out fires, building bridges, and dealing with hostile animals. Filling orders is very difficult.
We had to gauge the time before committing to an order. Many times we’d need just 1 more item to fill an order when it was time to evacuate.
We would have 3 out of 4 , or 4 out of 5 when the ship sailed to a new area. Basically wasting our time. Once we kept an eye on the timer, and collected wood for bridges before evacuating, our efforts weren’t in vain.
They give you more time for the last area though. We mostly did animal orders. Ignoring any tree order with 6 items or more. Jumping and trowing the trees seemed to work better than waiting for the platform.
Herding and luring groups of animals is faster than individually moving them. As always build bridges and address fires as soon as possible.
The final area allowed for the most orders to be filled. Being aware of the evacuations every 3 minutes helped the most for beating the final level.
Lumberhill FAQ
Lumberhill gameplay brought to you by David M.
I’m David M. I’ve been playing video games a long time, my pong game was fire. Now, my kids run circles around me but we always have a good time. We mostly play party and family games. Strategy and battle games are still among my favorites. I like writing about games almost as much as I do playing them. My favorite games are: Moving Out 2, Out of Space, and Overcooked All You Can Eat.
