Slab

About

Slab is a single player action game. It was developed by Smash The Code and was released on May 7, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Slab" is an arcade-style game inspired by Breakout and Arkanoid, where players destroy slabs and bricks using a paddle to ricochet a ball. The game features 50 difficult levels, various custom bricks with multiple breaking stages, and challenging "Grey Bricks" that require the Plasma Gun to destroy. Power-ups are available to enhance gameplay, including speeding up the ball, piercing blocks, and expanding or shrinking the paddle.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

77%

Audience ScoreBased on 79 reviews

graphics2 positive mentions

music4 negative mentions

The game is a fun and nostalgic throwback to classic Arkanoid-style gameplay, appealing to fans of the genre.
It runs smoothly on Linux, making it accessible to a wider audience.
The game is inexpensive, providing a decent time-killer experience for casual gamers.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including a major issue where the ball can become unresponsive or clip through walls.
Level design is uninspired and often too easy, leading to a lack of challenge and engagement.
There are ethical concerns regarding the developer's use of free music and assets, as well as a perceived lack of effort in the game's overall production.

music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
50%
29%
The music in the game is described as cheerful and synthy, but it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of originality, as it primarily consists of free tracks sourced from the internet. Critics highlight the developer's decision to sell these free soundtracks for $2.99 as particularly egregious, further emphasizing a perceived laziness in the game's audio design. Additionally, the sound effects are noted to be lackluster, contributing to an overall disappointing musical experience.
- “The music is of the lovely cheesy synthy sort that evokes happiness, and the sound effects manage to do the same.”
- “The music is of the lovely cheesy synthy sort that evokes happiness, and the sound effects manage to do the same.”
- “I used free music before in my videos or school projects, but to sell the free soundtracks for three bucks???”
- “The use of free music and sounds from the internet is another issue.”
- “This becomes an issue not only because it further highlights the laziness of the developer, but also causes the game to become more annoying due to the same couple of songs playing again and again.”
- “However, it doesn't stop there... the maker of this game sells the music that they didn't create for $2.99 on Steam.”
gameplay
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The gameplay is fast-paced and offers little room for error, providing a solid experience that works well on Linux. While it shares similarities with a previous game, it introduces unique elements like moving bricks and upgrades that enhance the overall experience.
- “Good gameplay, works fine on Linux.”
- “Gameplay is fast-paced, and there's little place for error.”
- “Slab has a couple of things that I don't think were in that game (like moving bricks and a couple of unique upgrades), but other than that, the gameplay is almost exactly the same.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The graphics are praised for their clean design, vibrant colors, and full-screen resolution, contributing to an intuitive gameplay experience. Players appreciate the clear identification of paddle upgrades and the effective use of sound, which enhances the overall aesthetic without being distracting. However, there is some confusion regarding the classification of certain items as power-ups.
- “This has beautifully clean graphics, pristine colors, full screen resolution, simple controls that are very intuitive, excellent physics, clearly identified paddle upgrades/degrades, and the sounds are meaningful without being obtrusive.”
- “The 'how to play' graphic shows all items that fall from smashed bricks as 'power-ups.' An item that shrinks your paddle is not a power-up.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews indicate that the game suffers from frequent glitches, which significantly impact its overall stability. Users have expressed frustration over these technical issues, suggesting that they detract from the gaming experience.