“Snake” games have been around for a very long time, and Curvatron is no different from them. Even the earliest consoles of the 1970s had them. I remember playing SNAFU on Intellivision (Mattel Electronics). Also, who could forget that famous motorbike scene in the original Tron movie, that was later made into a game? The idea in both was to move your avatar around, leaving a solid wall in your wake. You trap your opponent within your walls so that they crash into them.
The game we are reviewing today is similar, yet has its own flavor. It’s called Curvatron, developed by Brave Bunny and distributed by Black Shell Media. You begin each level with a small snake that’s rotating in a clockwise direction. Press and hold your left mouse button to cause the snake to switch counterclockwise. Release the button to return clockwise. With careful timing, you can cause the snake to travel in a more or less straight line. Look for little numbered dots on the screen and run over them with the snake. When you’ve collected all the dots, you advance to the next round. The catch is that with each successive dot, your snake gets longer and longer. Should you accidentally run into your ever-growing tail, you lose and must start over.
As you progress, the levels get tougher. Deadly walls appear and of course, the collectible dots are precariously placed therein.
From time to time as well, special items show up; some helpful, some not. The “dual arrow” icon will instantly shrink your tail back to its original length. The concave square on the other hand acts as a wall, killing you on contact.
Curvatron offers several modes of play:
Adventure: The standard level-progression option which we have already been describing.
Classic: Similar to adventure mode, but without walls. Wind around, collecting numbered dots until you eventually crash into your own tail. Careful snaking is required here!
Evergrowing: No dots to collect here. Simply draw a line with your snake, filling the screen as much as possible before crashing into yourself.
Creative: This is your level designer. Place walls and collectibles wherever you like and challenge your friends!
Finally, there is multiplayer. Here up to 8 players compete on a single map, each with a uniquely colored snake. Orange circles litter the area and cause your snake to grow upon contact. Small circles make you grow a little, while large circles cause you to grow a lot. Crashing into yourself or another player knocks you out of the match. While all this is going on, a large dark green circle is slowly closing in toward the center of the screen. When it reaches the center the round is over. The player with the longest snake at that time wins.
So is Curvatron worthwhile? Yes, it is. Priced on Steam at $3 (USD), the title is a great value. Add its 8 Steam achievements into the mix and things get pretty exciting! So if you’re looking for a simple, yet addictive puzzler, I’d recommend giving this game a try.
-Chris Roberts-
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!