Spellbind
- April 11, 2014
- Spider Key Games
Get on itch.io Store"Spellbind" is a 2D point-and-click adventure game where you play as Luppe, the 16-year-old leader of a gang of street urchins in the town of Riathon. When Ricko, your biggest rival, challenges you to steal the most expensive bottle of wine from Lord Amatar's cellar, you must accept and complete the challenge to maintain your reputation as the "king of thieves." The game focuses on storytelling and puzzle-solving, rather than action or combat, providing a unique and engaging gaming experience.
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Reviews
- The game provided a sense of joy and hope for players during difficult times, helping them to cope with personal struggles.
- Some players found the puzzles to be fun and appropriately challenging, making it a decent option for casual gaming.
- Despite its flaws, a few players felt the game was worth the price for a short, light-hearted experience.
- The game is criticized for being poorly made, with many elements feeling like a cash grab or a result of asset flipping.
- Players reported significant technical issues, including freezing and a lack of coherent English, which detracted from the overall experience.
- The gameplay and puzzles were often described as unoriginal and frustrating, with unclear instructions and a lack of engaging content.
- graphics6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely criticized for their simplistic and lackluster 2D art assets, which fail to impress and offer little improvement even with resolution adjustments. Many reviewers liken the visuals to outdated games, suggesting that the overall presentation is more akin to a slideshow than a modern video game.
“Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
“Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids had more advanced animation and visuals than this game does.”
“Imagine a video game competing with someone's Instagram, but with worse graphics. Well, here we are.”
“While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
“While the artwork itself might be considered passable, the visual presentation here is negligible; it might as well be a slideshow or a YouTube video.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of these developers is heavily criticized for relying on unethical practices, such as repackaging premade game templates and assets into low-quality products that are marketed as original games. This approach is seen as a blatant cash grab, with accusations of misleading consumers and contributing to the shovelware trend on platforms like Steam.
“These guys do nothing but copy premade game templates and game tutorials, fill out a few things, stamp out basic levels using the construction kit templates, slap on an asset-flipped set of sprites/assets, and dump them on Steam and into cheap, nasty shovelware game bundles as cash grabs.”
“Trying to get paid for someone else's game templates and assets... at best, this is shovelware; at worst, it's a scam and cash grab.”
“Spider Key Games, Volens Nolens Games, Enoops, David Mulder (how many accounts does Volens Nolens need to use to mislead gamers?) have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alternate accounts.”
- story2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story is criticized for being poorly developed and uninspired, with a moral that feels clichéd and unoriginal. Reviewers note that the narrative lacks depth and coherence, contributing to an overall amateurish experience that detracts from the gameplay.
“The moral of the story is that you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“Add to that a very amateurish feel to the whole thing, this game plays like something that should be free, and unoriginal, uninspired puzzles that have extremely poorly written instructions. Not that they're needed - you can figure things out on your own, but why write instructions when they're incomprehensible and would be of no help to anyone? The storyline is tired, badly put together, and barely there, and I seriously wonder how this game got greenlit.”
- music1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game is noted for its calming and soothing qualities, providing a relaxing experience that can help players feel at ease.
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- gameplay1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for its simplistic user interface, which primarily consists of 2D static images, leading some players to liken it to a basic browser game.
“For gameplay purposes, the user interface for this game is mostly just 2D static images, making it feel like a browser game.”
“The gameplay mechanics are overly simplistic and lack depth, which makes the experience feel repetitive.”
“The controls are unresponsive and clunky, leading to frustrating moments during gameplay.”
