Many people wonder how to get into game development. If you’ve followed our recent interviews with indie developers, you’ll see that pretty much all of them say to just start. There’s nothing to wait for, as there is plenty of free software to create games. A decent approach to this is what developer Nifflas did, which was release his titles as freeware, much like Cactus did with all the games that lead up to Hotline Miami. This approach leads to practice, exposure, and a great way to build up a network.

Back in March of 2017, the Humble Monthly bundle launched a Humble Original titled Uurnog. Fast forward eight months and Uurnog Uurnlimited saw its release on Steam and Switch. The game has three endings, single player and co-op, as well as an algorithmic soundtrack that is based on what happens in the game. We streamed it the day after it came out on Steam, but we didn’t have our Twitch settings set to save, so unfortunately you can’t view it. The mastermind behind it, Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas), came into the chat for almost the entirety of it giving pointers and making jokes, which made for a great first PC stream on GBG. I only wish I had the microphone setup at the time and that the settings were set to include it here.

While I spent a solid two hours fumbling about this metroidvania, the game is actually able to be completed very quickly. Not all of the endings involve battling the Uurnog, but never fear, as it does exist. Probably the most obvious way of beating the game involves the game’s namesake. But how do you beat the game, exactly? This is a puzzle game through and through, but certainly not one you’re accustomed to. Having the dev in the chat meant getting hints here and there, but playing by myself I found ways of completing the same puzzles that may or may not have been intended.

The world is made up of blocks that are creatures, weapons, guns, currency, and pieces meant for puzzle solving. A rather intuitive tutorial system is executed through books that you can pick up and read throughout the world, each book giving guidance on how to play. These are completely optional, but the sentence or two each one holds completely changed the way I played through the game. I never would’ve thought to throw what I was carrying down to propel myself up – it’s simple physics, really. This opened up so many possibilities for exploration and puzzle solving. It also taught me about on hand inventory, which I hadn’t even considered prior to reading the book. Certainly, these are all things you could learn yourself, but the way you’re taught is very intuitive.

One of the more interesting things that the game tackles is music. Asking Nifflas about the soundtrack in stream, he said he had always wanted to create his own music system. Well, that shows here, as every room you visit has a different aspect that affects what’s happening in the song. It rivals the likes of something you’d hear from the music game masters at Harmonix. It’ll be interesting to see what this evolves into in future games.

The game’s use of sporadic character NPCs interacting with the world is an interesting approach, as it creates a sense of community. I had several help me through puzzles by their random interactions, while I never saw any during other playthroughs. Some even provided me with tools that I was looking for to progress. It’s important to note that while the world’s inhabitants and happenings are ever changing, your home base is always how you left it. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, you’ll see for yourself. I may have almost ruined my chances of progressing by some poor placement of items on several occasions. It’s an interesting mechanic though – especially when you factor in money.

Many of the items you need for puzzles can be purchased in shops – guns, animals, bombs. But you can also buy boxes of money. Why in the world would you spend money to purchase less money? Well, you can send anything back to your hub room with teleportation devices. So if you send money boxes back to the hub and you die, you lose everything that’s on you. But if you have money boxes in your hub, you can buy stuff to continue on without grinding. It’s kind of like a bank taking a fee to hold your money when you are guaranteed to go bankrupt.

Admittedly, the game is not perfect. I found myself getting lost many times throughout, not remembering if I had completed all the puzzles in one of the many unlockable areas. And when I remembered what I needed for a certain room, I’d end up distracted with something else and run into the same issue over and over. The game does a nice job of highlighting when something is new though. There are sparkles on unused doorways, as well as on dangerous sections of enemies that may have been fine to jump on previously. The game’s biggest asset of chaos ends up being one of its greatest weaknesses as well, as it feels like ADHD the game at times.

Despite the fact that you can easily find yourself lost in the world, and that you’ll likely be tasked with starting over a puzzle from the beginning that you’ve messed up (don’t press every button you see – it’s a trap), the game offers a lot that many others in the genre do not. From the silly characters and polarizing colors to the algorithmic music system, there’s a lot to appreciate here. This is a platformer that wants you to explore, have fun, and go crazy.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Soundtrack
• Many Ways to Skin a Cat
• Chaos

Cons

• Chaos
• Requiring Death to Restart Puzzles

Uurnog Uurnlimited was developed by Nifflas Games and published by Raw Fury. It was released on PC November 16th, 2017 and Switch on November 21st, 2017 for $14.99. The game was provided to us for review on PC. For more on Uurnog Uurnlimited, visit its official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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