Silt is a surreal underwater puzzle-adventure indie

horror game A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describe tabletop games with horror fiction elements. Unlike most other video game genres, which are classif ...

developed by ''Spiral Circus'' and published by Fireshine Games for

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, in which the player controls a deep-sea diver who can possess the diverse marine life that enters their vicinity. It was released on June 1, 2022.

Gameplay

The player begins their exploration of the

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, black-and-white oceanic environment chained up for unknown reasons. From the start, they will encounter different types of fish with varying abilities which can be used to traverse levels of increasing difficulty, including piranhas which can bite through restraints, or

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who can smash obstacles preventing progression. Continued exploration eventually leads to uncovering more and more eerie mysteries in the ocean depths.

Development

Silt is the debut game for developer ''Spiral Circus''. The inspiration for both the art style and the oppressive, isolating atmosphere of the game came from one half of Silt’s development team, Tom Mead's own watercolour paintings of characters in vast, empty abysses. This is also the origin of the game's title. The team attended Stugan Summer Camp, a non-profit accelerator program for game developers, after which they were able to produce their first demo. The game was announced at the ''PC Gaming Show'' at

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. It is the first title published by ''Fireshine Games'' since their rebrand from ''Sold Out''.

Reception

Pre-release

The demo received favourable reviews from several publications, including

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's Christian Donlan, who compared its haunting yet minimalistic, monochromatic art style to the caricatures of

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. Before launch, others also noted the occasional difficulty in distinguishing between background objects and key interactive pieces of the environment. Several outlets such as ''Polygon'', ''

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'', and ''

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'' featured ''Silt'' on their lists of 2022's most anticipated horror and indie games.{{Cite web , date=2021-06-24 , title=E3 2021: 20 games to watch , url=http://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/jun/24/e3-2021-20-best-games , access-date=2022-04-25 , website=the Guardian , language=en

Post-release

''Silt'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

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. ''

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'' gave the title 7.75 out of 10 and wrote, "The impeccable graphics and thought-provoking narrative shine so brightly in this puzzle/adventure title that the game’s defects, like the frustrating lack of direction, stand out in grimy, stark contrast," while directing criticism towards its imbalanced challenges and tedious objectives. ''

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'' said that the visuals, soundtrack, and atmosphere made the title "one of the most memorable releases of the year" but disliked the puzzles for having an overly simplistic design. ''Nintendo World Report'' and ''

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

'' similarly considered the fun gameplay mechanics, incredible visuals, atmosphere, unsettling sound design, and short duration of the game to be its strengths and took minor issue with a few frustrating puzzle sequences and the

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

References

External links

Spiral Circus Games

Silt
on

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