''Sludge Life'' is an

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

oriented toward

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. The game was designed by musician Adam "

Doseone Adam Drucker (born April 21, 1977), better known by his stage name Doseone, is an American rapper, producer, poet and artist. He is a co-founder of the indie hip hop record label Anticon. He has also been a member of numerous groups including ...

" Drucker and artist Terri Vellmann following their release of ''High Hell'' on

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...

. ''Sludge Life'' was released in 2020 for free for the first year. It has been released along with a soundtrack EP and digital album.

Gameplay

''Sludge Life'' is an open-world adventure game based on graffiti, parkour, and

urban culture Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. The defining theme is the presence of a great number of very different people in a very limited space - most of them are strangers to each other but still try to be polite to each other more times ...

. Initially equipped with nothing more than a

spray can Aerosol spray is a type of dispensing system which creates an aerosol mist of liquid particles. It comprises a can or bottle that contains a payload, and a propellant under pressure. When the container's valve is opened, the payload is forced out ...

and laptop, the player must leap and climb to find prime locations for tagging in order to further explore the environment. Tagging (especially difficult tags) enables the player to gain respect from other taggers and eventually allows the player to co-operate with a series of murals. Interactions with other taggers allow the player to open areas and to pick up new items including a

camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

, warper, and "vandal eyes". The laptop can also be updated with 7 apps (music, video, a

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...

, etc.), and the player can play

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

cigarettes, and zoom (the term for using

psychedelic mushrooms Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include ''Psilocybe'', ''Pan ...

). There are 100 tags to spray and there are three possible endings.

Plot

''Sludge Life'' is based on the efforts of a graffitist to be recognized by his peers. Set in a fictional 1990's-era

oil rig {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling ...

/ shipyard, the main character, Ghost, spends time meeting inhabitants, exploring, and spray-painting tags and murals. As Ghost gains in fame and respect, new areas are opened and more of the Glug corporate structure is exposed. Ghost learns about a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

against Glug protesting the death of the corporate

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, Ciggy. Although there is no specific requirement or order, Ghost can find numerous adventures. While climbing and exploring the rig, its environs, and the buildings on it, Ghost is able to find three possible endings.

Development

''Sludge Life'' was developed by Adam Drucker AKA

and Terri Vellmann from

. Previewed at 2020's

PAX East PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX wa ...

(29 Feb - 1 Mar), the game demonstrated an emphasis on graffiti, music, resistance, grime, and crass humor. Notably, however, the game was dramatically less violent than the developer's previous ''

High Hell ''High Hell'' is a 1958 American film set in the Canadian Rockies. It was a British B-movie intended for North American audiences, with exteriors filmed in the Swiss Jungfrau and interiors on a British sound stage. Plot Craig Rhodes and Frank D ...

'' (and later Disc Room). In fact Vellmann's first conception of ''Sludge Life'' would be to remove guns entirely. Focusing on

NPCs A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...

rather than enemies, Drucker and Vellmann began to develop personalities in the new game. Characters were designed based on real people with Drucker describing "a guy who used to always talk with him at the gym". As ludic aspects developed, Drucker drew from activities of his youth including

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

, and street art. To emphasize the visual aspects of graffiti and its spatial relationship vis-à-vis the observer, parkour became a primary theme. Music and visuals also began to be emphasized. In adopting psychedelic and

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, elevator, R&B, and lounge music fro ...

elements, Vellmann developed an aesthetic style including Ghost's laptop, hallucinogenic "zoom" trips, and the smoggy backgrounds. Drucker developed the music along with Big Mud and DJ Dead, and a

45rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

EP was released within the laptop as well as in reality on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. ''Sludge Life'' was released by EpicGames on 28 May 2020 and was offered for free for the first year. The Switch and Stream versions were released as soon as the EpicGames version was sold on 2 June 2021. A physical version was planned for Switch.

Reception

After its initial 2020 release as a free game on

Epic Games Store The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play gam ...

, numerous reviewers encouraged players to test ''Sludge Life''. The second release (allowing Switch and Steam) in 2021, provided additional reviews to examine the game again. Recognized for its laissez-faire exploration which the developers described as a "

walking simulator An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

", early reviews emphasized the humor in the game as well as its strange mood/atmosphere. The game was compared to 2000's ''

Jet Set Radio (originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GGs, as they use inline skates to traverse Tok ...

'' in its themes, but otherwise more similar to visual media like the programming from

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

or ''

Liquid Television ''Liquid Television'' was an animation showcase that appeared on MTV from 1991 to 1995. It has served as the launching point for several high-profile original cartoons, including ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' and '' Æon Flux''. The bulk of ''Liquid ...

'' from the mid-1990s. From the initial 2020 release from Epic Games Store, reviewers emphasized the game as having a niche and unique/eccentric vibe. The 1-year free price was also broadly appreciated, and the game was praised for its gameplay and the music. Criticism was primarily limited to controls which were found to "wonky", however additional criticisms came in the form of its relatively short length and the inelegance of developing its uniqueness. Hardcore Gamer gave the game a score of 4/5. Reviews of 2021 from Switch, Steam, GOG, etc., were similarly positive with ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' describing the game as "visually striking", "genuine", and "vibrant", ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

'' describing it as "astonishingly clever", and ''Nintendo World Report'' claiming it as "wild and truly unique. There's really nothing like it. ''Sludge Life'' is a vibe". Complaints were limited to the visuals and mechanics which ''Nintendo Life'' found to "feel inconsistent" and to potentially cause "confusion between which objects can be climbed like ladders and which cannot". ''Nintendo World Report'' also worried that the non-linearity of the game might be off-putting for gamers. Scores of 8/10 were awarded from both ''Nintendo Life'' and ''Nintendo World Report''.

Controversy

''Sludge Life'' was banned by the

Australian Classification Board The Australian Classification Board (ACB or CB) is an Australian government statutory body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, video games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia. The ACB was establis ...

after rating the game a "refused classification" (RC) in June 2021. Although details from the Board were scant, the May 2021 review and re-rate of '' Disco Elysium: The Final Cut'' (banned in March 2021) suggested that the reason for ''Disco Elysium'' may have been for the same reason: "use of drugs". Similar rating boards like the ESRB (USA) has given ''Sludge Life'' similar mature rates such as Mature 17+ (M).

Sequel

''Sludge Life 2'' has been announced on March 23, 2023, with its launch slated for later this year. It has been well received in its preview version.

Reference

External Links

* *{{Official website, https://www.shopsludgelife.com/
Doseone @ bandcamp.com
2020 video games Devolver Digital games Dystopian video games First-person shooters Graffiti video games Indie video games Linux games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games Open-world video games Parkour video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Brazil Video games developed in the United States Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games