Forget Souls-like. Prepare to usher in the age of the ‘Snails-like’ difficulty level.
Sweat drips from my brow. My hands are shaking. Suicidal thoughts run through my mind. No, I’ve not just returned from war. I’m just playing one-man developer Jonas Tyroller’s latest offering, Will You Snail?
On first glance, this appears to be like any other indie 2D platformer, imitating older games in predictable ways. But in the opening sections of the game, it is easy to see there is so much more here.
The game builds so cleverly on existing mechanics, both a love letter to and an innovation of, retro classics.
Tyroller does this by tearing apart and stitching back together the basic principles of video game design. It feels like the developer got a bit bored with the rules, so he decided to make his own.
What if, he posited, instead of static level design, a playfully sadistic, arrogant AI kept fucking with the position of obstacles all the time so no one play-through was ever the same? And this, my friends, is exactly what he did. And oh, how well he did it!
Because of the presence of a Squid, the game’s omnipotent, omnipresent AI and arch-nemesis to the player, the player always has banter. Something painfully lacking from many games.
Squid reacts every time you die. And you will die. A lot.
“I’ve decreased the difficulty. But I still doubt you’ll complete the level, anyway.” Squid quips. Oh yeah, making the game easier is one of the few things he can do that’s actually quite helpful.
Or at other unfortunate times of death, he will simply shout, “HAHA! I’M SO GOOD AT THIS GAME!” And in the end, you’ll find yourself talking back to the screen at Squid, as you realise who is really playing who.
On one such occasion I found myself shouting back, “Calm my nerves with meditation, should I… I’ll calm your bloody nerves, pal!”
But the conception of this game was part of a jokey kind of challenge for the developer. A “wouldn’t it be funny if…” moment that went a bit too out of control, until it became a full project.
This looseness of conceptual approach could have made the game an incoherent mess. But because of Tyroller’s background in video games, having a history with Islanders this innovative approach is what gives this game its genius AI edge.
But if a jokey idea is behind the concept, the execution is far from it, for this seriously well-designed game.
Every level is varied and there are many different biomes to explore. Each individual level is succinctly short, sweet, and, like a stale Mr Kipling cake, exceedingly hard.
Basically, if you don’t want to end your own life before the game does, you’re not playing it right. However, much like in Dark Souls, and reality in general, there is much reward in the completion of arduously difficult tasks.
And from the first level, where the player begins to learn how to play the game, to when you defeat Squid at the end, structure, satisfaction and variety always keep you playing.
At every level, Will You Snail? is ingeniously designed. And Fiendishly difficult.
The first boss battle is a good example of how clever the level design is. Your constantly firing, shell-mounted gun points upwards and hits tiles above the boss. This causes tiles to fall onto your enemy, causing damage when timed right.
But most of the time, if the player hits them without the enemy being below, the tiles destroy the ground beneath the player instead, forcing a jump to safety or a fall onto the deadly spikes below.
This is gorgeously reminiscent of much older bosses where a large part of the struggle is fighting a huge enemy in a tightly confined space.
Aspects like this, innovations on retro classics make Will You Snail? the kind of game to prove that one person can make a far better game with a fraction of the budget of any AAA studio. In this case, $20k.
Visually, the game is appropriately basic, bearing in mind the style, gameplay, and budget of a one-man operation.
There are some pretty lighting effects that contrast nicely to the black background and the game runs smoothly on PC as expected.
The soundtrack isn’t so arresting at first, but more of a grower than a shower. It is hard not to find yourself humming the tune of the title sequence when not playing the game and thinking it was some kind of pop song from the seventies. The soundtrack works well for the era of the game to which it alludes.
So are there any flaws or imperfections on the otherwise shiny shell of this brave snail? Not many.
There are times that it isn’t clear why the player has died. But this may be because the difficulty is too high.
Additionally, it is hard to find the best route to navigate a level successfully. A zoom-out and pause feature would be handy. But then it wouldn’t really be in keeping with the old-school design aesthetic.
Due to the difficulty level, your wrists will ache more than they did during your frustrated teenage years. But then, to make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs, right?
The story is there, a short satire on the presence of AI, for better or worse. But it isn’t anything too memorable. It’s just enough to create justification for the action and gameplay. But it certainly isn’t awful.
The game takes 4-6 hours to complete, so it could be polished off in one sitting. But for anyone with average mental resilience, PCZONE does not condone this practice.
So there really aren’t many aspects to complain about. This is a perfectly satisfying, rewarding, dynamic and hilarious piece of old-school gaming art with an innovative twist. Play it now.
And do me a favour. If you see that Squid, give him a friendly slap for me, will you?
Summary
Fast, frenetic and oh so fun. This is a perfect indie title if you enjoy 2D platformers and want to try a fresh, new twist on an old classic.
Will You Snail? Out on PC and all major consoles, 9th March 2022, $14.99
