#sbug games

After playing Another Crab's Treasure I thought I'd check out another crustacean game; this time, it's about a land-based form of crustacean, the terrestrial isopod. These little critters have thousands of species worldwide and dozens of common names even in English, but here in Australia they're called slaters. This is relevant because this game is the follow-up to Webbed by Queensland-based studio Sbug Games. Webbed was an adorable 2D game about using your spider's web in fun ways, and helping out your fellow bugs. How exactly does a 3D spinoff hold up?

Winston is head of the Isopod Union, and as the game starts finds himself negotiating with a conglomerate of invasive fire ants who are attempting a hostile takeover of the bush. This is based on real ecological issues, although here the fire ants are depicted as greedy capitalists seeking to exploit native animals or, failing that, to burn the whole bush down. Winston gets involved with some native ants (returning characters from Webbed, including the ant mech from that game!), fighting back against the highly industrialised fire ants and seeking support from other bugs and minibeasts. It's a simple story but with clear and positive messages about unionisation, cooperation, biodiversity, and that sort of stuff. Ripper!

For the first portion of the game, it seems to be about managing your momentum and ability to roll into a ball. There's a lot of fun to be had scooting about, dashing and smashing into things, and exploring the macro-scale bush environment. But soon you are granted a cartoon magnet and you find out that secretly this was a grapple-swinging game all along! Combining the magnetic pull with the existing movement systems becomes remarkably satisfying, whether it's for exploring the open-space areas, zooming through fast-paced action segments, or zipping around boss fight arenas. The final portion opens up an absolutely huge zone and gives you a glider, which of course also enables new movement possibilities if scouring old areas for collectibles.

Along the way there's activities to do, which grant you either unique collectibles or scrap metal (possibly inspired by Another Crab's Treasure?), either of which can be traded in for costumes to reskin your little bug boy. The bugs you meet along the way (based on real species of course) are fun and quirky, from the funnel web spider in a wizard's hat to the skateboarding ant youths to the standoffish dragonflies, plus all the many one-offs in between. Buddy from Webbed even gets a cameo, lovely to see she's doing well.