Webbed | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Sbug Games |
Publisher(s) | Sbug Games |
Platform(s) | |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | Adventure, puzzle, platform |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Webbed is a 2021 2D adventure puzzle platform game developed and published by Australian, Brisbane-based studio Sbug Games. A physics-based game set in a fantasy version of Queensland, players control a peacock spider whose goal is to rescue her boyfriend after he is kidnapped by a bowerbird, with the help of other bugs. [1] The player can use spider webs to swing to different areas, create bridges, or move objects. [2]
In October 2019, a prototype of Webbed was published on the indie game website Itch.io. [2] The finished game was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on 9 September 2021. [1] [2] It was later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on February 2, 2022.
Typical of puzzle platformers in 2D, it has a simple, non-linear gameplay style that encourages players to explore and revisit areas of the open and interconnected map space to fully discover the five distinct areas. [3]
The player controls Buddy, a female jumping peacock spider, with the gameplay functionality centering mostly around her webbing abilities of which two different types can be used for varying means. The first is those that can be used for swinging the player across the map and dragging objects which disintegrate after being used. As well as stationery webs that can be used to attach between objects to make bridges or manipulate objects which remain until destroyed. Other gameplay features include laser shooting eyes [3] which can be used to damage enemies, destroy map obstacles such as wood planks, webs, and push objects. As well as a skateboarding minigame, swimming and gliding using leaves to travel along air currents.
It has a frequent check-pointing system, with the player able to die by swinging into or falling on spikes throughout the map without losing much progress. [3]
In addition the game has additional small fetch-quests for each section in collecting ant larvae, flies, pollen and baby spiders which reward the player with stamps in the game’s menu. This menu also shows the map areas with filled in circles to indicate that all collectibles have been found, and empty ones to indicate there are still more to find. [3]
Furthermore, a dance button can operate the spider player that when done nearby other insects, will cause them to dance in return.
The game also features an ‘Arachnophobia mode’ in the menus that transforms the spiders into colored blobs. [3]
The plot follows the player as Buddy, the female peacock jumping spider who sets off on the quest to save her boyfriend after he is kidnapped by a male Satin Bowerbird. [2] [3] [4] Recruiting the help and resources of three other distinct insects; bees, ants and dung beetles by helping with their own objectives such as completing the construction of a Mech-Ant by attaching its legs with webs. [3] Together they help the player construct a hot air balloon fashioned out of the moth's silk cocoon, with the ants providing the manpower, the bees providing repairs to the balloon, and the dung beetles the fuel [2] to reach the Bowerbird's nest in the Sky Bower.
Webbed is developed by co-developers Riley Neville and Noah Seymour, and features a colorful pixel 2D art style with procedural animations created in GameMaker engine, for both its player and non-playable characters that give them reactive and generated movement. [4] [3]
From an interview with Checkpointgaming, Riley Neville explained the reasoning for the arachnid player character stating “If you’ve seen videos of peacock spiders doing their little dances, they’re incredibly cute. There’s nothing threatening about them. That’s not an enemy! It’s about a millimetre across in total, it’s a tiny little dancing, colourful friend and we want to show that sort of character in our game.” [5]
Additionally, its other developer Noah, who has already made indie itch.io titles featuring spiders such as ‘A Mess of Legs’, notes a fascination and love for them “I just kind of keep falling down the rabbit hole further and further. I’ve bought big books of the most documented spiders in Australia and love to take pictures of them in my backyard.” [5]
Riley also showed an interest in accessibility for Webbed, spawning the Arachnophobia mode which changed all the insects into blobs, for those on social media who still expressed fear at the bug aspects. [5]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 81/100 |
Alex Walker of Kotaku gave Webbed a positive review despite noting his arachnophobia, praising the web mechanics and writing: "It's not exactly a breakthrough when it comes to platforming puzzles, but it's deeply, mechanically satisfying." [2]
WellPlayed Zach Jackson’s review of Webbed praises its whimsical and fun gameplay in particular its swinging mechanics, its solid and jovial soundtrack, but criticizing parts of its difficulty in moving objects with said webs, giving it an 8/10 score. “The web mechanics are fun and fluid, with the swinging especially one of the game’s highlights – fanging through the bush like George of the Jungle is a really good time.” [3]
Reviews on Metacritic focus mainly on its ingenious puzzle design that is balanced with its easy gameplay fluidity, with many noting a drawback of being ultimately short and sweet. With user GamesHub writing “Webbed chose joy, whilst never sacrificing sharp puzzle design nor the fundamentals of platforming and web-swinging that make it a pleasure to play.” [6]
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Australian Game Developer Awards | Game of the Year | Nominated | [7] |
Excellence in Gameplay | Nominated | [7] | ||
Excellence in Audio | Nominated | [7] | ||
Freeplay Awards | Excellence in Design | Won | [8] | |
2022 | Independent Games Festival | Seumas McNally Grand Prize | Honorable Mention | [9] |
Excellence in Design | Nominated | [9] |
Nightfall is an American computer game released in 1999 by Altor Systems, Inc. Although claimed to be the first real-time 3D first person adventure game, there are earlier examples of 3D first person adventure games, however, such as Total Eclipse, released in 1988. It employs a three dimensional world and sprites for objects such as vases and rats, as well as true 3D objects such as blocks and statues. Essentially, the gameplay is a combination of 3D first-person shooters such as Doom, the gameplay found in Myst, with some additional elements.
Super Paper Mario is a 2007 action role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third installment in the Paper Mario series following Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004), and the first Mario game on the Wii. The game follows Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi as they attempt to collect Pure Hearts and stop Count Bleck and his minions from destroying the universe.
Super Mario is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console. However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms. There are more than 20 games in the series.
The Sims Stories is a series of video games from The Sims series released between 2007 and 2008, based on a modified version of The Sims 2 game engine. The modified game engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications, such as laptops. As such, its system requirements are lower than that of The Sims 2, but it can still be played on desktops. The series was aimed to cater to three groups of players: players who wish to play The Sims 2 on their laptops ; players who wish to engage in other activities such as instant messaging while playing the game; and players who are new to the franchise. Titles in this series are categorized as "laptop-friendly" since they do not require a dedicated graphic card.
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is a 2008 Lego-themed action-adventure game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts. Based on the Indiana Jones franchise and the eponymous Lego Indiana Jones toy line, it follows the events of the first three Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade. The game includes local co-op gameplay as well as puzzle and platformer aspects, and there are 84 playable characters with a variety of special abilities and phobias. As the players go through the stages, they collect Studs, the currency of Lego games, avoid traps, assemble Lego blocks, and engage in combat. Climbing, swinging, and throwing objects as weapons are new inclusions that have not appeared in previous Lego video games by Traveller's Tales.
A hidden object game, also called hidden picture or hidden object puzzle adventure (HOPA), is a subgenre of puzzle video games in which the player must find items from a list that are hidden within a scene. Hidden object games are a popular trend in casual gaming. Time-limited trial versions of these games are usually available for download, although many are free to download on app stores. Popular themes include detective crime stories, adventure, gothic romance, and mystery.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 action-adventure game. It was developed by Beenox and published by Activision. Based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and the 2012 film of the same name. It was released on June 26 in North America and on June 29, 2012 in Europe for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows. A version for the Wii U was released in March 2013 in North America and Europe known as The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition in both regions. A PlayStation Vita version was released in November 2013.
Tasha's Game is a free Adobe Flash puzzle-platform game by Klint Honeychurch, with art by Tasha Harris and music by Bert Chang and Razmig Mavlian. The game was published by Double Fine Productions, and was originally playable on their website.
The Sims FreePlay is a strategic life simulation game developed by EA Mobile and later with Firemonkeys Studios. It is a freemium version of The Sims for mobile devices; it was released for iOS on December 15, 2011, released for Android on February 15, 2012, released for BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013, and released for Windows Phone 8 on September 12, 2013.
Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a puzzle game developed by Frogwares. It was released as a downloadable title on Microsoft Windows on 20 June 2013, PlayStation Network on 23 October 2013, and Xbox Live Arcade on 25 October 2013. Magrunner: Dark Pulse is set in a cyberpunk reimagining of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
Hack 'n' Slash is a video game developed by Double Fine Productions. Prototyped during Double Fine's open Amnesia Fortnight 2012, Hack 'n' Slash is a top-down action-adventure game similar to The Legend of Zelda, though with in-game weapons and objects that allow the player to hack the game's world to achieve victory. The game was released to Steam's Early Access on May 6, 2014, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux computers. It left early access status and became a full release on September 9, 2014.
Framed is a 2014 puzzle game developed by Australian studio Loveshack Entertainment. The gameplay sees the player re-arranges panels of an animated comic book to change the outcome of the story.
Marvel's Spider-Man is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, it tells an original narrative that is inspired by the long-running comic book mythology, while also drawing from various adaptations in other media. In the main story, the super-human crime lord Mister Negative orchestrates a plot to seize control of New York City's criminal underworld. When Mister Negative threatens to release a deadly virus, Spider-Man must confront him and protect the city while dealing with the personal problems of his civilian persona, Peter Parker.
Sokobond is a puzzle video game created by Alan Hazelden and Harry Lee. Gameplay involves moving atoms around 2D grids to form chemical compounds. The game was released on Linux, OS X, and Windows in August 2013. It was later released for Nintendo Switch in September 2021, and iOS and Android in May 2022. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics.
Hole.io is a 2018 arcade physics puzzle game with battle royale mechanics created by French studio Voodoo for Android and iOS.
Forager is an open-world adventure game developed by Argentine studio HopFrog and published by Humble Bundle. The game was officially released for Microsoft Windows in April 2019, and later became available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.
Unsighted is a 2021 indie video game developed by Studio Pixel Punk and published by Humble Games for the Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PS4. The game is a Metroidvania adventure game in which the player and all non-player characters exist within a time limit, with the player required to find and allocate 'meteor dust' to characters to maintain their survival. The game was designed by Brazilian developers Fernanda Dias and Tiani Pixel, who cited the Metroid and Legend of Zelda series as influential to the design of the game. Upon release, Unsighted received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising the innovation of the game's use of time as a narrative and gameplay mechanic, its visual presentation, and combat.
Supraland is a Metroidvania-styled video game developed by Supra Games. The game was originally self-published for PC and left early access on April 5, 2019. Ports for the eighth generation of video game consoles, with Humble Games as publisher, were released on October 22, 2020. Players assume control of a toy figurine and explore a series of themed areas within a child's sandbox.
One Dreamer is a video game developed by independent developer F2House in 2022. Described as a "narrative-driven" game, One Dreamer is an adventure game featuring sections in which players solve puzzles using code. The game was designed by an Australian team based in Darwin led by Gareth Ffoulkes, who worked on the game over a seven-year period. Upon release, One Dreamer received praise from critics for its emotional and affecting approach to storytelling, and its novel code-based puzzle gameplay.
Family is a 2020 video game by Sheinman Games, the studio of independent British developer Tim Sheinman. Described by the creator as a "unique detective game of musical genealogy", Family is a puzzle game in which players piece together information from radio interviews, music and written notes to identify a series of band members in a fictitious music scene, the 'London Pop Scene', displayed on an incomplete family tree from 1985 to 1995. The game contains short recordings from each fictional artist evocative of real-world counterparts in 80s and 90s indie and alternative music. Following release, Family received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards the quality and verisimilitude of the game's music and the construction of its narrative through its puzzle gameplay mechanics. Sheinman published a follow-up title with a similar premise, Rivals, in late 2020.