Spinch is the psychedelic platformer to watch out for next year

Like getting lost in the 70s

Even if things are a little far off, we always like to highlight unique looking games on our horizon, and Spinch is certainly that. Spinch caught our attention when Akupara Games, publishers of stand-out indies such as Mutazione, Desert Child and Chicken Assassin, announced they would be acquiring it for the new year. With such fantastic idiosyncratic games already in their roster, this can only be a good sign.

In Spinch you are a tiny little white ball of a protagonist, running around platforming levels absolutely blooming with colour and life. Like many platformers, dashing, wall-jumping and boss battles are your best friend here, but with enemies like these weirdos, who needs other platformers? On their Steam page the game claims to have ‘tight and precise’ controls and platforming sections, promising an old school arcade style of gameplay with a difficulty level that just keeps increasing.

The plot sounds about as weird as the game’s appearance. The “hyper-agile organism” that is the protagonist is in search of their litter of missing babies, but once they have them, they can shoot them as ammunition? Sounds a bit irresponsible really. The Steam page states: “The ramping difficulty will see Spinch swim through experiment water tanks, chased by hordes of weird creatures, and traverse backward and inverted environments. With only a ticking clock and quick restarts – no lives or game overs here – the game is welcoming to players of all experiences, but a formidable challenge to a speedrunner.”

We might be looking at the next Cuphead folks. You can keep an eye on Spinch by wishlisting the game on Steam.