TIC-80 Games is a post series where I review TIC-80 games I play. You can read more about the fantasy computer in this post. and see my latest reviews on the tag #tic80games!
Space Pet Rescue is a challenging game created by made by Andrei Rudenko for Fantasy Console Jam. It was the winner of the jam's "overall" category.
"You have 60 seconds to save all pets and yourself, in a spaceship."
The goal of the game is to put the pets scattered on a spaceship into their escape pods. To do that you have to go to the pet and hold it with 'Z' button, then going with it to a escape pod and putting it there.
The pets are represented by a cute pixel art with different colors. They're grouped into Cats (green,) Dogs (blue,) and Rabbits (red.) Each group can only be put in their specific place. Also, the heavier the pet is, the slower your movement will be while holding it.
There are 10 levels and they get increasingly harder!
Each level is 60 seconds long. The desing of each level is unique and some of them span multiple screens. Some levels have locked doors that opens with key cards, or contain a wrap device to reach different areas of the spaceship.
The game is challenging even on "Easy" mode.
The game has multiplayer mode and can be played with up to two players but I haven't tried it. I'm not fan of multiplayer games that use the same keyboad for both players.
I like the little touches of Space Pet Rescue. The pixel art while basic, conveys the feel of the game perfectly.
Some little touches I appreaciate are the decreasing movement when holding a large pet, and the poop! Yup, the pets sometimes poop. That adds some realism. I wouldn't have thought of adding a mechanic like that to the game. The music adds to the urgency of the game despite having a 8-bit feel (like other #tic80games,) though it becames repititive after a while.
Overall, I think this game is one of the better games for TIC-80, it's fun, offers a satisfying amount of challenge, and variety for a game this small. I recommend checking it out if you have time.
What do you think?
