Recent reviews by Bitmaster64

I had high hopes for this game, I really did. I got this after finding it just months after it was introduced to Early Access. I loved how cute and simple it was and, though unpolished, felt like it was brimming with potential. Unfortunately as the game stands, I can not in good faith recommend this as more than a cheap, flashy tech demo.

TL/DR Early access had promise, super cute, wanted more, but like cheap fast food, though good for a moment, was nothing but overly dressed up fluff and filler that leaves you feeling unsatisfied and disappointed at the likely wasted potential.
IN CURRENT STATE: Cannot recommend

(not so) Simply put Pro's and Con's
Pro:

+Game is visually cute, the main character T.A.C. is cute as a button, and the monsters are equally cutesy with the game having a simple sandbox appeal

+Games goal is very clear set from the get go with a visually pleasing, but simple little animation.

+the floating tool is a clever work around to the characters small size and lack of clear hands, build models look nice, and soundtrack is just as cute as the rest of the game.

+Price= Free, so you can try it with no buyers guilt or fussing with refund policies anywhere.

Con

-Game, though visually appealing at first, falls hard due to lack of.... well anything in the world. Ocean "bottom" is like only as big as the island with clear object borders, as if they plonked the prop there and forgot to resize everything.

-Game runs about as efficiently as a 500lb man uphill. I don't have the best stats for my pc, but an I7 4790k quad core and GTX 760 should NOT be running top end 100% capacity when it's literally the only game running, admittedly I had discord open so not All blame is here, but whilst in game, frame rate would dip, slight but sudden, along with audio cracking, speaking of....

-Music though cute, is like, 1, maybe 2 songs that alternate through the day/night cycle of the game, and cut VERY suddenly to where the audio switch is jarring to the player.

-Game likes to Crash, apparently a LOT. I only dealt with One crash in game, which kicks you to desktop. Due to manual saving (yeah, manual saves and it seems only 3 at any time) it's very easy to lose all progress. I think it's caused by auto harvesters never having a "stop limit" so they keep dumping item after item after item into the world that this already poorly polished game is struggling to render, and eventually causing it to kill itself. That's just my theory though.

-harvesting and processing resources is broken. Iron to gears doesn't delete the ingot you spent on it despite making the object "disappear" so if your conservative and patient, you can clear the whole game with.... 5 iron? 15 max, fish drop from ALL of the ....2 enemy types in the game, so the auto fisher is a pointless, literally broken machine, I'll explain below.

-More parts to the ship than the ship recipe even requires leads to no real need for visiting all the islands, ever.

-Auto switching tools based on proximity/ visual direction is a short lived gimmick that leaves you flailing build hammers at bad guys too close to builds, or possibly the pick, and with the hammer doing no damage, finding the "sweet spot" to actually attack the 'baddies' becomes tedious and frustrating.

-games ending is lukewarm and unsatisfying. I rushed to gather the parts I needed, (only need 5 rocket 'bits' and the body, but game provides at least...6 or 7, and the body is it's own part) and upon building the rocket, auto engages a glitchy cutscene with no audio, special effects, or real feeling of resolution, before flashing to a "you win" screen with options to exit to menu, keep flailing about in this sandbox,... and a third option I frankly forgot (oops).

-absolutely no real replay value. Between the unorthodox processing that goes into running this stunningly empty sandbox, the parts being in the exact spots, on the exact same islands, with the exact same tools, baddies, etc as last time, besides it's cutesy charm there's little reason to come back to this game once you "beat" it.

In the end, I went in to this game hungry for more after seeing it's early access, and was left with nothing but disappointment as what was once a game I truly had hopes for turned into nothing but a visually shiny tech demo that also turned my pc into the worlds most expensive space heater.

Also, the fish catcher machine, as a thrown in note, I quote it being broken because 1. fish drop from every bad guy you boop to death. 2. if your quick, the fish oil press also gives fish back like the iron processor, so theoretically 1 fish can net the 10 oil you'll need by games end. and 3. Placing the fish catcher is bugged, forcing the "selector" too close to the player, and I got trapped inside the first time I played, having to erase it and start again. Also Early Access the fish leaped into it's mouth making an efficient collection point, now fish leap and land right infront of it's jaw, so putting it on waters edge drops all fish in the sea, but placing 2 blocks back it won't catch, leaving this awkward spot the fish just catch endlessly until deleted or the game crashes. And one last side note for harvesting, There's a platform with a little "factory" on it. no rhyme or reason, but smacking it gets you the .... copper? that you need. in world it looks like a puck of amber resin, and in no way looks like the other harvestables, which makes it unintuitive to utilize/discover.

TL/DR of the review: AI/CPU player Unadjustable and hyper aggressive, Lacks any descriptives, tutorial, or any helpful info on "How to Play" outside Store Page description, Bare Bones Options that are Inaccessible mid game (only resume or quit from pause) and what could have been an adorable and cute little puzzler Ruined by lack of updates, finicky menu input, and unclear gameplay guidelines. Will re-review if this ever gets an actual update.


From what I've seen so far, sadly I can't really suggest this as an upstanding game at the time of writing this. Though I only have .4 hours in the game (again at time of review) but in that time I have this to say

Positive:
*Cute, simple graphics.
*Functional sandbox to test interactions
*Equally cute little bestiary telling little stories of each slimes personality
*Endless play works smoothly

Negatives:
*Graphics might come off as too simple, and some in game graphics drop out during repeat game sessions
*Arcade seems broken, and AI is too aggressive.
*Options are super bare bones, and no options screen mid game to check/change.
*Currently lacking updates, as last one was in 2018, listing potential exit of early access in 2019

To Elaborate, Graphics on the front page are functional, but lack luster. The interaction with all the menu options also feel inconsistent and clunky due to the controls responding to mouse position AND keyboard, causing options to occasionally snap or glitch out due to the "sliding" tile main menu system. I will give credit, as the sand system works alright, but there's very little suggestion, guidance, or anything.

Next big plot point, the Arcade VS AI. I watched in arcade and noticed that after searching the handful of menu's the game has, including the "Custom" game mode, there is no AI difficulty option. Upon starting up the game in Arcade vs AI The CPU player seems to erratically zig zag slimes back and forth, constantly spinning the pieces at top speed (aka holding down "DROP" button constantly) and racking up huge point totals before you even know what's going on

The game also has ZERO tutorial on how to play, no guide telling you how to play, and no tips giving any information on how the slimes interact with eachother. On one hand it gives an organic learning experience, and there is a "Sandbox" you can test interactions in, but unfortunately the game also has no details or summary on what any of the game modes are. A brilliant point to this is Sandbox I would figure might be a "zen mode" that would give you the game field from Arcade or Endless and let you play with the physics, test how the slimes bounce, and see how they pop and play off eachother in the "mixing" area below, but nope...it's literally just a browser worthy, Literal "Sand Box" using the curser as a stylus to spawn in the sands.

Most Notable gripe I have though is the Arcade mode (at least against AI as I haven't tested local Vs.) Always considers the game mode High score wins. I played and kept losing to the CPU and never knew why, as I never "lost" as far as the store page described (aka sand peaking above the "fill line" or having slimes exceed the upper chamber) and yet always lost, because the CPU despite having overfilled it's sand box, had an astounding point score on my gameplay. With it having no adjustments and the rules for Arcade being such, what should be a fun puzzle game boils down to who can spam the slimes the fastest to get high score.

I saw this game at first and shrugged it off, oh how naive I was, I thought it just some cheap shooter by it's screenshots, but then I got to see it again after the update and oh my gawd whas I impressed, The music, no matter how much I listen to it, no matter what track, never ever seems to go stale. Each level and mode keeps such an adrenaline pumping edge it's to the point of near addiction. and the graphics to boot are a wonderfully high res pixel work that I tend to love.

I simply adore this, frantic but addicting gameplay, beautifully done soundtrack (which I found is done by a music group of the same name, who knew?) And it's affordable to boot! If you're not at least giving this a chance you're missing out on a wonderful experience.

When I originally found this game I thought it rather creepy, mildly disturbing, and a doubtful pickup. I of course gave into curiosity and lo and behold I was right. It was creepy, at points disturbing, but I loved it because of the quirky little creepy moments. I found a simple "fireplace" game ended up having a rather surprising story and an interesting set of rewards and item interactions. so though the game seems grim and questionable, I say look into it, the pyro in you will thank ya for it.