Skeletons, ghosts and humor instead of horror. This is, in a nutshell, the independent production of Spookware.
Although it is accepted that the so-called "spooky season" does not start until October, some people start celebrating it in early September by posting gifs and memes with skeletons under a blanket and enjoying a cup of pumpkin latte. The Spookware game, created by a small, only three-person team known as Beeswax Games, fits perfectly into this trend.
Spookware is an unusual production in many respects, which tries to combine elements of a road movie, a classic adventure game and… micro-games that we are used to by the WarioWare series. As you can guess from the title, the creators are not hiding this inspiration at all. And that's a good thing - there's nothing wrong with taking full advantage of successful ideas, especially if you introduce a lot of unique character into them, as has been done in this case. We play the role of three skeletons named Lefti, Midi and Righti (yes, a very "ingenious" procedure), which set out on a journey through the world of the dead. However, we are not dealing here with horror, but ... humor. The whole thing is still quite loose in tone and a lot of jokes are stuffed here. Although the level of humor is not too high, I have smiled several times during the game.
The game is divided into two main elements: one is a fairly typical adventure game in which we walk around small locations, talk to the characters present there and perform simple tasks. The second is WarioWare with a full mustache: simple micro games that can be completed or lost in just a few seconds. The balance between the two components was made with sensitivity, so we do not feel too full of walking and reading dialogues, or subsequent, instant games.
The micro games themselves are quite nice and there are a lot of them (the creators boast that we will find over 100 of them, but I didn't have the patience to try to count them), although you can feel a certain repetition in them. Many of them differ only in their visual appearance, but are basically the same. Not the variety found in Wario games, but the September Get it Together! shows that this can be achieved even without fancy Nintendo controllers or a touch screen.
A big disadvantage of Spookware is also the lack of any multiplayer. The ideal solution would be the free mode with micro-game playlists that could be played with friends - locally and over the network. Perhaps the creators will consider adding a multiplayer module some time after the premiere or in planned, subsequent episodes, but for now it just feels like a wasted potential for a pretty good party game.
However, the aesthetics of the game is interesting, as it efficiently combines several different styles. So here we have realistic-looking (although softened with certain background filters) characters reminiscent of Paper Mario cut-outs and, of course, lots of references to the horror classic. In microgames we come across skeletons, phantoms, ghosts and bloody scenes every now and then. However, all this is kept in a very loose tone - it is certainly not suitable for the youngest players, but also not completely scary. It is rather a tribute to the horror cinema, but ... devoid of the horror itself.
Spookware is a nice, small production offering simple humor and equally simple gameplay at a very affordable price (you can buy it on Steam) . If you approach it with your mind set for something like this, you are unlikely to be disappointed.
Pros:
- pleasant gameplay;
- can make you laugh;
- sounds good and looks good.
Minuses:
- no multiplayer mode;
- repeatable micro games.