Spilled! | Steam Deck Review
Remember Super Mario Sunshine? It’s one of the 3D iterations of our favorite plumber that got a ton of (in my opinion) unnecessary hate. The gimmick of this title was that Mario had to rid Isle Delfino of this disgusting gunk. To do this, he would spray the environment with a water-shooting apparatus strapped to his back. There was something immensely satisfying about leaving the world a cleaner place than you found it. When I first saw the trailer for Spilled! from developer Lente, this is where my mind immediately went to. The fact that this solo female developer literally developed the game while on a boat for two years made me want to play it even more. Unfortunately, the game is extremely short, offers very little in replayability, and doesn’t iterate on its own formula enough to stay interesting for very long.
Just in Time for Earth Day
The theme of Spilled! is very eco-friendly. The world’s water sources have been plagued by an oil spill, and your job is to clean it up. In order to do that, you’ll use your trusty boat equipped with an oil/garbage collector on the front of it. All you have to do is accelerate around each water area scooping up trash and sucking up oil before depositing it at a recycling plant. Once each area is clear, a new area opens up, each with a slightly-new mechanic to add to the cleanup.
This is the definition of a cozy game. There’s not time limit, so you’re free to take as much time as you need to rid the world of waste. This was a definite plus for me, as I despise timers with a passion. There’s no real challenge here whatsoever. Even the collectibles, which are animals to rescue, are right out in the open and nearly impossible to miss. As you navigate each area, you’ll learn new skills like dredging the bottom for polluting barrels, shooting water on the shore to put out fires or clean away oil, and even cover the coast in snowballs for some reason. The game culminates in a boss battle of sorts where you shoot water at an offending tanker in an attempt to sink it. The idea being that this will stop it from polluting the waters.
The more you clean up, the more money you earn. This money is used to increase your ship’s speed as well as the size of its garbage grabber and oil reservoir. Each upgrade makes it slightly easier to collect pollution. This adds some satisfaction with a bit of progression, but really ends up making the game wrap up that much more quickly.
Greta Thunberg Would Be Proud
It sounds like I’m being unnecessarily harsh on a game created by one person. I truly don’t mean to be, as I can tell a lot of love went into making this passion project. The art is bright and colorful, and there’s no question which areas of water have been cleaned and which haven’t. Even the pixelated animals you rescue add a certain element of charm, especially for animal lovers. I’m also a big fan of the theme of “going green”, as it’s something our planet genuinely needs.
There’s simply not enough meat on the bone for me to heartily recommend this one. It was somewhat satisfying for the brief time I played it, but it’s equally a forgettable experience once you’ve experienced everything the game has to offer. I love the idea in concept; I just wish it had a deeper gameplay loop to make me want to come back to it.
Spilled! Final Verdict
I completed Spilled! in just over an hour. Was it satisfying to clean up the watery levels? Absolutely. Sadly, this enjoyment is short-lived, and the additional gameplay mechanics aren’t enough to make me want the game to last longer than an hour. I applaud Lente for completing a two-year project for which she is very passionate, and I look forward to seeing what she has to offer in the future. In the mean time, her first entry is more of a flash-in-the-pan experience at best for me.
To hear me talk more about Spilled!, be sure to listen to the March 19th episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 55:05 time stamp.
This review is based on a Steam review copy of Spilled! provided by Pirate PR for coverage purposes. As of this writing, it is exclusive to that platform.
Spilled!
$6.99
Pros
- Satisfying Cleanup Mechanic
- Pleasant Visuals
Cons
- Incredibly Short
- Mediocre Gameplay Loop
- Unimpressive Music
- Zero Replayability
- No Challenge
