SpiderHeck: Eight Legged Feats

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you and three of your friends turned into laser sword wielding spiders and fought each other above a sea of lava? Well, that’s exactly what developer Neverjam thought when creating the delightfully chaotic Spiderheck. Guess what? It’s exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. 

SpiderHeck is a relatively simple concept. You and up to three players will be assuming the role of brightly colored spiders. As these spiders you’ll be able to utilize your web swinging abilities, adhesiveness, and various weapons that appear on the map in an attempt to be the last spider standing. In order to achieve a full victory, however, you’ll need to win ten rounds, all of which feel as fast as the BPM to the synthwave that scores the physics based face offs. Though each stage shares a similar aesthetic, each round offers up a different layout that comes with different weapons and obstacles to utilize or fall victim to. The ever changing circumstances due to the cycling layouts and weapons make for an incredibly fun experience. During the Six One Indie team’s time with the demo, we duked it out with laser swords, bombarded each other with rockets, splattered one another with shotguns, and even pulled off a couple trick shots with laser rifles. All of these combat scenarios took place as we discovered how to best maneuver through, around, or within the current stages layout.

SpiderHeck’s controls create a bit of a learning curve at first, but over the course of a round or two, I eventually found my footing and was able to start experimenting with what I could pull off during a match. Tactics such as throwing your sword at opponents don’t seem like a great idea given everyone else also has swords and wants to kill you, yet it still proved to be effective in tight situations. There were even moments where I would drop off ledges and use my web slinging to swing like a pendulum, launching myself above opponents to get an angle with my rockets. 

The combat and monotony found in SpiderHeck is an absolute blast. Whether it be online or on the couch, I'm sure the room will ignite in laughter and competitive banter once SpiderHeck launches later this year. Until then, the demo is available right now on Steam for anyone who wants to experience the madness for themselves.

Written by Justin Hyde

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