There was a time when indie games were completely unknown, a still undiscovered genre that many were suspicious of. One of the titles that changed our minds the most was Limbo , a wonderful puzzle platformer whose narrative —and even more so the outcome— silenced those who had it in front of the screen. Silt relays the same vibrations to the naked eye as he does , quickly distancing himself from what could be considered a crude copy.
The work of Spiral Circus Games will take us to an overwhelming underwater experience, as harrowing as it is brilliant. The game is developed in black and white , something that does not make it simpler, quite the contrary, since it knows how to play perfectly with its monochrome style and everything seems to be included in a meticulous way.
And best of all, it will be available on all platforms : PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series X/S, Switch and PC. The originality that distills both its playable and aesthetic plane is more than enough to draw the attention of everyone who approaches it.
Silt , a beautiful underwater journey full of puzzles
The main character of the game is an anonymous diver who has a peculiar power: he is able to handle sea creatures to his liking, which he has to use to solve the puzzles that appear as obstacles to advance through the level.
Each animal will have unique characteristics that we have to take advantage of to find a solution to the puzzles: you will have to use your ingenuity to know how to use them, although they are usually very intuitive and not excessively complex. We have to know how to play our cards well if we do not want to end up as food for the fish.
The puzzles themselves stand out for their layout and originality , although difficulty is not their forte. Its magic lies precisely in how well it fits with the environments of the levels, with the depth of field and perspective, as well as with the black and white tones. The problem is that in each level we handle the same animals, so the surprise factor is soon diluted.
The sea abyss is full of dangers and, in reality, we don’t know what we are doing there or why we have to continue diving : the character appears in chains and the title begins with the lines of a poem. In fact, every time we finish a puzzle we activate a chain of a machine about which we know nothing at all: we advance linearly in each area of the map to clear up any doubts.
The problem is that Silt doesn’t know how to make the most of one of its strong points : the setting of the maps. The beauty of its environments forces us to pay close attention to everything and that could have been taken advantage of even more, including some collectible or another system to return to previous areas.
1 Why play Silt ?
Indie developers have to play the creative card well to compensate for their lack of budget and quickly attract the attention of the public. And the work of Spiral Circus Games does it perfectly, and not only because of its obvious resemblance to Limbo: its atmosphere envelops you from the first moment and it knows how to generate that feeling of unease due to its dark, narrow and full of danger areas. Not to mention its moody soundtrack and how crippling it is not knowing anything about why we’re there or what we’re doing all this for.
It is true that it ends up becoming somewhat monotonous, but they always end up finding plenty of reasons to continue advancing , such as the curiosity of what will be the next animal that we will be able to handle and what it will be capable of doing.
Silt is a game recommended above all for those who love platforms and puzzles. It’s not long, it’s available on many platforms and its price is affordable: it can be that excellent summer attraction that you will remember with nostalgia in the future.
