SKULL CHAINZ Reviews

Challenging arena "brawler" with a wholly unique combat mechanic! Captivating style and music!

SKULL CHAINZ is a game which has been extensively praised for its unique concept, which is essentially [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/41100/Hammerfight/]Hammerfight[/url]-but-in-hell. But, actually not, because while the trailer shows mouse movement, I whole-heartedly recommend against it. Instead, grab a controller and get rotating those analog sticks! This game is not for the weak-thumbed. You use your thumb to move your skull around, typically making circular motions so that your skull friend orbits around you. You use any other finger to throw your skull friend, damaging enemies at a range. The game pulls you in with its sleek 3D model-to-pixel look (which kind of reminded me of [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/600130/Valfaris/)]Valfaris[/url], and makes you stay with the interesting gimmick. But is the moment to moment stuff worth it? Probably not. There are a few issues here that hamper the overall experience: Each level has an interesting gimmick. These range from enemies powering up from eating their friends’ remains to grow stronger, to them having their own skullz, to enemies incubating eggs, which in turn spawn more enemies. BUT… each level takes way too long to finish, and on repeat playthroughs (when going for perfect scores, for instance…) they quickly lose their glamour, and most time is spent rotating in place, waiting for the enemies to spawn. The powerups are fun! They change and improve your skull in noticeable ways. BUT… you can’t really pick which ones you get, and some levels—Pride and Gluttony, for instance—feel a lot better and more fun once you find a few of the good ones. Also, the auto-aim powerup is totally useless if you're going for perfect runs. This is because you can't throw your skull, which would presumably make things too easy. The bosses are thematically appropriate and look great! In general, they’re pretty tough! Envy is a stand out! A mirror match which steals your power ups when you start the fight! And pretty challenging while you’re figuring its patterns out. Probably the coolest moment in the whole game. BUT… a lot of the boss fights feel like they were designed to be played with the skull throw—which, again, you can’t use when going for perfect runs. When not throwing, sometimes it feels a bit random whether or not you'll get hit. So you get hit, and you're forced to reset. This involves awkwardly pausing and quitting to the level select— a task that’s inconveniently easier to do with a mouse than a controller. Then you go through the same sluggish, overly easy, and time-consuming level again. …And you stop liking SKULL CHAINZ. I can’t say I hated it, though. It’s mercifully short, and still might be worth your time, especially if not going for a full completion. Especially if you really vibe with the music & aesthetic, if the gimmick intrigues you, and you own a controller with comfortable analog sticks. While this is a negative review, I empathize with the dev(s?) for making an interesting and charming game, as flawed as I may have found it. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. People say opinions are like skullz: they keep chainging.

First things first, this game IS NOT for mouse and keyboard. I spent about 50 miserable minutes stuck on the 2nd level past the tutorial with mouse and keyboard, then immediately after switching to game pad beat the game in an hour and a half. Each level (Besides the tutorial and sloth) requires thoughtful choices on each ability, taking into account how you'll deal with each enemy type whist maintaining a viable skill set for the boss at the end of each level, and while the limited pool of upgrades seems shallow, it actually goes a long way in allowing you to plan out levels whilst relying on the desired upgrades to show up. The price is pretty good for what you get. A couple hours of base game, and enough variation in levels and upgrades to allow for at least 5 hours of play, though in pursuit of challenges that could be stretched well above that, not to mention the bangin' soundtrack.

Pretty darn great! The concept is simple but the execution is competent, the stages are varied and it just oozes style. The soundtrack is amazing and adds so much to the experience. The dev is responsive and was quick to fix the one technical issue I encountered. I mean, it's a skull on a chain. It's great. Get it!

Great physics skill based game, helpful power ups and a classic difficulty curve (get good at it or leave). Final boss is awesome. Visual aesthetics are amazing and sound has great style.

- Surprising gameplay depth & variety on top of the super simple premise & control scheme - Cool unique artstyle, reminds me of claymation a bit - Bangin OST - Enormously satisfying VFX & SFX juice Quick-playing arcade game that's very clear about what it's striving to be, and very good at it. Not me though, I suck at it badly

Can be played with a mouse (currently on level 3). Epic music and visual production on point. Simple concept, good fun. If you like this game, Devil Daggers is similarly fun and in themes.

Make no mistake, this is a fairly intense game. You start the game using a control scheme that you're likely unused to, moving a smaller skull around with your mouse/thumbstick while at the same time swinging a big skull that you use to attack and block with. You go through the first level, Sloth, and you get hit a few times, but it's fairly easy to complete. You get to use a few really strong power ups too. And then, the second level, Lust, hits you like a truck as the first roadblock of the game. The enemy numbers goes way up, and not being aggressive will just make more enemies spawn. But being too aggressive will result in mistakes, causing you to get hit. However, there is some leeway, each level is made up of 3 normal stages and 1 boss stage, with 6 individual rounds per normal stage. You heal up at the end of every stage, allowing you to take 2 hits in every stage before a third hit takes you out, resetting the level. You learn how to move better, start looking for specific power ups at the end of each stage, and hopefully you also learn how to throw the skull to deal with enemies in a wide area. It's highly advisable to use a controller if you haven't already, as that will give you better control over the movement of your skull. Once you do complete Lust, you'll be well equipped to deal with the rest of the game, and the content after don't disappoint. Each level is full of individuality, having a specific color, their own custom song track that fits the theme of the level, and the enemies in every level follows a certain theme as well. It's a real joy to experience each level and the creativity behind each of the levels. With enough time and perseverance, you will eventually finish the game, typically within a few hours. However, some of the more hardcore players might have looked at the achievements and noticed a certain achievement. Namely, one that requires you to beat every level by perfecting it, a.k.a beat the level without taking any damage and without throwing your skull. For those who are completionists, you are going to have a heck of a time. *Note: As of this review, there seems to be a bug where the achievements won't pop up and be attained right as you get them. But you will still get the achievement in steam once you close the game. Trying to perfect a level means 2 things. First, you lose access to throwing, which gave a lot of options to control the area and take out enemies from a range. It also makes the 'Auto-aim' power up completely useless (thankfully it's the only one affected). Second, enemies and bosses become much harder, as you will need to avoid getting hit entirely (unless you have a shield power up), while being in close proximity to them to deal damage to them. But here is the thing, the level and enemy design is completely fair, they either follow specific behaviors/patterns, or have weaknesses/openings that should be used. But you have to study them in detail to figure them out when before you have the extra hits to use to brute force your way through. Certain power ups changes in their values as well, for example, shield is now much more useful as it provides a buffer, and even shoot has its uses in certain levels, while also providing range damage which you are lacking. Going for perfect gave me an appreciation for the design of the game. All in all, it's a great game. If you love challenges with a fairly novel mechanic as well as interesting level and enemies design, pick this game up.

I'd highly recommend this. It's one of those flow-state games like Hotline Miami where you get super in the zone of gaming. Art and music is fantastic too.

The concept is great, the gimmicks are varied and plentiful, and the game manages to be difficult without straddling the line between BS and fair. While it is short (my initial playthrough clocked around 40 minutes, with an additional 10 or so being idle at the menu), I liked what time I spent on this game. Just please don't use this game's short duration to refund it afterwards. Indie developers really do need to eat and this arcade game has so far flown under the radar of a lot of people.