Earth Day is just a month away, but Spilled! could be a perfect companion to that. It’s a game that reminds me of the early 90s and how ecocentric and focused we were as a people. We were told to save the ozone (we did), cut plastic rings apart to save the dolphins (still have to), and we had the Captain Planet for everything else. Spilled! doesn’t have any overt messages, but it does help bring awareness while also being a fantastic compact, cozy, and concise clean-up game.
Every now and then a game comes along that completely blows you away with its profound themes and compelling gameplay. That’s Spilled!, a short game I completed several times in around 45 minutes, and has a simple premise. One-woman developer Lente’s first project is a complete standout that’s a must-play. Also, ten cents ($0.10) per sale will be donated to Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC).
There’s no real setup to what’s going on, you start in a small body of water, and there’s been an oil spill. Luckily your little tug boat is equipped with a specialized vacuum perfect for sucking up oil and storing it safely for proper clean-up. You also have a push bar that knock objects away or towards specific locations. You’ll do this on repeat, with each successive area introducing larger spills with more complex scenarios, ensuring you’re upgrading as often as possible.
As you fill up your tank with oil, you can head to a nearby processing tanker that will take your pollutant and give you coins. Additionally, any plastic or trash pushed towards that ship will also pay you for it. These coins are your currency that can purchase one of three kinds of upgrades: a faster motor, a bigger tank to hold oil, and a bigger bar to push objects. I did not max out upgrades my multiple playthroughs, though I’m not sure if there’s an upper limit, but you should feel incremental improvements no matter which way you spend your money.
As you advance to new sectors, you’ll be given new items for clean-up such as a crane to extract barrels and a hose that can put out fires. This gives just a little needed variety to the game that I wasn’t expecting, but was very welcome.
There are eight levels consisting of different areas or biomes to explore. This is game made for r/OddlySatisfying, it’s so cathartic to be solely responsible for cleaning up these spills, and turning dirty water into clean water. While I respect Lente’s scope of work here, never have I wanted more from a game. Thankfully when you are done with the game, you can revisit any area with the level select screen.
While pursuing your clean-up efforts, the game does have cute collectibles. There are sixteen animals to find and rescue throughout your time. And it’ll be next to impossible to find and save them, they are easy to spot. Additionally, the included achievements are also easy to attain, save for one, maybe.
Whether incidental or intentional, Spilled! is contemplative and reflective of the current state of our planet, and the help it needs. It feels good to be cleaning up these waters, and it is empowering to know that you can start small to have an influence. There’s satisfying visual feedback to show you are having an impact on this world, where Spilled! is absolutely sublime in design and execution.
A Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
