Picture this. You’re a disembodied skull with stretchy brain parts. You use this elasticity to fling yourself around the afterworld, Angry Birds-style, in order to collect taxes from the deadbeats who reside there.
Sound like fun? It is, oddly enough. While Skullduggery may be one of the odder platforming games you’ve played, it’s as challenging and action-packed as anything out there. Once you’ve wrapped your, ahem, head around the control scheme, you’ll find yourself flying through level after level with glee.
Check out the launch trailer below to get a sense of what we mean.
Skullduggery is from the same team that brought you Little Chomp, a game with a similar flinging mechanic that stars a cute little caterpillar.
This new game, however, is a full-on iteration on the flinging mechanic. You can flick the skull while it’s already in flight, allowing for all sorts of skull-based acrobatics. Time will slow down for the tricky shots, letting you line up your fling while in motion. This is handy, since a lot of the platform and level design will require some thought and skill to get through: tiny little tunnels, guarded by bat-wielding bone-thugs, and all sorts of mechanical Rube Goldberg devices will stand in the way of finding the treasure chest and collecting the taxes from the richly deceased.
The art style was inspired by those old Max Fleisher cartoons from the ’30s, and the soundtrack from Portland musician Michael Arthur Holloway fits right in with a bouncy, jazzy feel.
The game can feel a little frustrating, especially with the flinging mechanic. I spent more time flicking that little skull to and fro than I did solving the levels when I started playing the game. Eventually, though, the motor skills kick in and you’ll be flinging that little tax collecting skull around with ease.
If you’re super into it, you can even play against a friend in competitive multiplayer to see who can collect the most coins for their bureaucratic overlords. It’s all great fun.
You’ll have 24 creepy levels separated into 8 worlds as a single player, and you’ll have six different battle arenas to compete with friends. All of this for a $4.99 asking price seems pretty great, especially since there’s no in-app purchases or micro-transactions.
There are plenty of things to find in the game, including hidden rooms and secret chests, and you can unlock over 20 different skulls to play with, including guest skulls from other indie games like Bean’s Quest, Major Magnet, and ClutchPlay’s own Little Chomp.
All in all, Skullduggery is a fun romp through an adorable and cleverly-created underworld. If you’ve got five bucks to spare, this is a great game to fling yourself into.
