Honestly, I’m torn writing this because I want to like this game, but the enjoyment runs out very quickly. Keeping things brief for this one: Skelittle is a minigame assortment party game with 15 games and a sandbox mode with various objects that can be used to create more games. This creativity mode was what I was really hopeful for because it sounded like it could be the Little Big Planet or Mario Maker for party games, but the features just aren’t there for that. I think an option to save loadouts and download other players’ sandboxes could extend the lifetime of this game. The game does not contain any online features, which I won’t fault, although, I think such options would improve my impression of the game. As of now, the 15 games are really what properly sell the game, as they hold the most polish in the game. The sandbox is cute, but having to unlock various goodies and design tools is extremely tedious.
The majority of the controls can be summed up with move, dash in a direction, jump, and use. My top three favorite games from the bunch are Wazaboom, Midnight Hunting, and Raft Racing. Many of the games such as Pulp Friction, Piston to Mars, Sprinter, and Dust to Eat feel a bit too similar to one another – dodging obstacles and shoving enemies to their demise. The controls themselves are perfectly functional, so most of the complaints are just repetition and not incompetence. Occasionally, loading screens can be cumbersome, but I suspect this may only be a Switch port issue.
Not too surprisingly, the game doesn’t feature any particular single player modes excluding simply playing the party modes against the AI. The sandbox itself is pretty simple to navigate: you are placed on an eleven by fifteen grid with a chest of objects from goalposts to extendable punching gloves. There’s no option to save a configuration to try a different setup, which I think would help encourage more experimentation. As I mentioned previously, your chest of objects slowly unlocks as you play more and more Giant Parties and level up your character. I think this process accelerated my fatigue and drove my opinion of how seemingly hollow the game content is. There is fun to be had, but in this current state, it is easily exhausted.
Skelittle: A Giant Party was developed by Bubble Studios.
Available on Nintendo Switch and Steam for $9.99
A switch copy was provided by the developers for review
Skelittle: A Giant Party has not received the Indie Gamer Seal of Approval.
Indie Gamer Team 