Spilled review — Save the turtles

There can be a bit of whiplash when you take the time to play indie games that have a playtime of about 2 hours, as collectively we are accustomed to at least 5 hours or more to explore gameplay, story, and other elements. So how do you make these kinds of games work when they don’t have a lot of space to shine? It can be a struggle, but Spilled makes the experience concise and fun, so you jump in and out satisfied.

Spilled is an ocean cleaning simulator where you and your trusty boat are trying to maintain the environment by mopping up after industrial boats that are polluting the waters. Each level is separated into areas that you must clean, meeting a quota before you can advance. Your tasks will start off simply, just sucking up the black goop from the waters using your boat, but as you advance, you’ll need to gather plastic bottles clustered in different spots and pick up barrels from the bottom of the ocean, taking them all back to the main recycling plants in each area. It’s really chill and satisfying gameplay, with not much thought having to be put into your actions. This was the perfect snack game to play whilst watching YouTube videos and taking a break from the demanding nature of other games.

You’ll be equipped with a couple of main tools to use, one being a large bar that will suck up goop and gather materials, and a crane that plunges into the sea and lifts barrels up. It’s a small arsenal that doesn’t overcomplicate things. These tools and other aspects of your boat can also be upgraded to make your cleanup adventure easier, from increasing the speed of your boat to enlarging your cleanup bar and having a bigger goop tank. Once you deposit your findings using these tools, you’ll earn coins, which are the currency you’ll use to buy these upgrades.

Controlling the boat is also easy, with a lack of harsh control when bumping into objects. You won’t explode into a million pieces, unlike other games like Dredge, and there is a lot of room for error if you find yourself in tight spaces. My only frustration was how easy it was to lose the plastic bottles, as they were so small. Having to swish your boat around 5 or 6 times to collect every bottle became a bit of a nuisance in 100% completion. This can also be said for the barrels, which demand precise positioning to hook them, but it is a bit alleviated in how you move your boat whilst triggering the crane, so you can grab it on the move.

Other neat features that bring Spilled to life are small quests and collectables to find whilst cleaning up. These include other sea dwellers who have lost certain items that you can find and scoop towards their owner, and saving animals from being stuck in goop. They even have cute, unique names that give me a giggle every time I find one. Other things to do include helping with other environmental issues, like dousing fires in the desert. It’s all minuscule stuff, but it added a nice level of personality to the game. Speaking of deserts, areas can be in different biomes that provide some variety to the game, like snowy mountains and dry deserts.

Finally, I want to mention how stunning the pixel art is in this game. The level of detail put into the sea life and coral reefs in the ocean is magnificent to uncover once you’ve cleaned the area, matched with breezy rolling hills with solar farms and wind turbines. It feels so whimsical and pairs perfectly with the relaxing nature of the game. It makes me excited to see what else Lente does, because she is so talented in this department of game design.

Through buying this game, you'll also donate $0.10 to the charity, Whale and Dolphin Conservation so even if it only lasts a couple of hours, at least you're helping a good cause!