Spilled! Preview: Living That Boat Life
I love the idea of living on a boat. Waking up every morning to the sound of the water and wildlife around you. Being able to move around at will and pick the perfect spot for the day. It’s a romantic notion and one that many of us would love to experience (those of us that don’t get horrifically ill when we step on a boat for more than five minutes). That’s probably why I always jump at the chance to try out games that feature cute little boats like the one in Spilled!.
Spilled! is a casual, cozy game where players control a boat responsible for cleaning up ocean waste. The full game can be completed in about one hour, but features eight unique areas each larger than the next. There’s no time limit to how long you must take to complete each level and you can clean things up in any order that you wish.
Spilled!’s controls are very simple making it perfect for any kind of player. You use the arrow keys to control your boat, moving back and forth over oil spills and trash in order to clean up the ocean. As you clean, you’ll collect coins which can be redeemed to upgrade your boat. You’re able to upgrade the size of your boat’s collection tank, the speed that your boat moves and the size of the collector at the front of your boat. The more you progress, the larger the areas to clean will be so upgrading will help make this little adventure a little easier. But there’s no pressure to complete upgrades on any short of time crunch so you’re welcome to take your time and upgrade when you’re ready.
The more you clean the ocean around your boat, the more you’ll start to notice the ocean come back to life. You’ll notice sea turtles and fish splashing around the now healthy plant life at the bottom of the ocean. You’ll also be able to collect creatures while you boat around. Keep a close eye out and see how many critters you can find! The full game seems to feature about a dozen or more animals to discover during your playthrough.
Developer Lente’s inspiration from Spilled! comes from her own experience living on a boat for much of her life. She recently had a successful Kickstarter for Spilled! that was funded in just twelve hours and gave her enough funding to complete the game. Spilled! doesn’t have a release date just yet, but when it does it will be an adorable, bite-sized game that encourages players to relax while also cleaning up our precious ocean!
Previewed by Becca Smith