Link the Slug Invites You To Commit Cute, Puzzle-Based Genocide [Review]

Video games are all about solving problems and helping people. Sometimes, the problem is “too many monsters” and the people are the ones who made all those monsters in the first place.

So it is with Link the Slug, a puzzle game from developer OX Play, which is about a hapless scientist who accidentally creates a new species of colorful slugs and immediately decides that they must all die horribly. And that’s where you come in.

To destroy the slugs — who I will remind you have done nothing wrong — you must “link” them by tapping on two slugs of the same color. This will cause electricity to arc between the two targets, killing them both. Electricity can turn either left or right once so you want to link slugs around corners, but it can’t pass through obstacles or other slugs.

The hint system will guide you through the entire solution, step by step.

The goal is to clear the screen of slugs. You get the best rating on each level by collecting all three stars scattered around the board. And you do that by making one of your electrical bolts pass through them. The game mixes things up later on by introducing bombs (which can destroy obstacles like hats and plants) and by giving some slugs shields that makes them need an extra zap to murder.

If you get stuck, the hint system will guide you through the entire solution, step by step. It would have been nice to just see the next move and not have the game walk me through the whole thing; it kinda ceases to be a “hint” at that point.

Still, Link the Slug is a fine diversion, and some of the later levels get pretty tricky. It’s just too bad that nobody ever asked the slugs what they want before they started massacring them.

Why are video games so violent?

Game Name: : Link The Slug The Good: Clever puzzles with a lot of variety and a reasonable difficulty curve. The Bad: Senseless murder of poor slugs who never asked to be born anyway. Also, the hint system is a bit overzealous. The Verdict: It’s a fun and reasonably cute match-two puzzle game once you get past all that genocide you’re doing. Buy from: App Store

[rating=game4]