The town is covered in sludge, and it’s up to the Sludgineers to put things right. Clean up, mine and collect resources to improve your gear, purchase upgrades and uncover the source of the pollution.
At first glance, it’s giving 2D Powerwash Simulator vibes. But Sludgineers has more than a few surprises up its sleeve to make it stand out on its own.
Sludge Solutions
The Sludgineers’ van travels the over-world map to one of the 13 levels. Your job as the player is to control a huge suction pipe and collect all the sludge on each map before your battery runs out. As you clean individual items, they will ding and drop coins and potential power-ups to help extend your battery life.
Each level adds a new problem to overcome. The sludge grows thicker, gas vents erupt from the ground, and it is up to you to mine and refine it all to sell for upgrade cash. The incremental nature of Sludgineers gives us a reasonable skill tree, with different paths and upgrades to explore for more efficient cleaning.
Ultimate Upgrades
How to clean and upgrade requires careful consideration as you strive to complete each level 100%. Players will not unlock the next level until they finish the previous one, so they will make multiple failed attempts before moving on. However, they still keep the resources collected in a failed level, so completing smaller sections of a map for their rewards becomes more lucrative than grinding out lower levels.
Targeting smaller portions of the map for easy drops was my main strategy when cleaning. This way, I had a better chance of battery and boost items dropping to extend my stage time. You also get a suction boost bonus as your battery nears the end, incentivising you to run it down as much as possible so you can go back and collect your boons.
Droning On
Unlocking mining abilities and drones to aid restoration is a game-changer. Right-clicking to mine rocks requires managing your battery charge between destruction and suction. You can then use this tool to destroy gas vents and other obstacles. This all becomes easier with upgrades, but the drones are automated, making them less predictable.
There are drones for different purposes, and I found them to be less helpful when they could only collect sludge. However, you can get upgrades so that completing areas can drop bonuses to extend your drones’ battery life and proficiency. Although this was an expected and necessary upgrade, it changed up the gameplay enough to keep it fresh after grinding out levels multiple times.
Idle On
There is an idle component to Sludgineers. The pollution canisters you collect can be refined over time to create resources for purchasing upgrades. Eventually, you can convert these into coins to unlock upgrades faster, but it’s only a small element of the game.
Cosy Chaos Vibes
Sludgineers is incredibly cosy and relaxing despite the battery-life time limit. Usually time limits add a degree of stress to games, but you can release your finger and ease off on the battery at any time. How fast you go is up to you, and failure is part of the process.
The relaxing music and aesthetic pixel art enhance the atmosphere, while the speech-bubble dialogue builds a quirky world for you to uncover. The van travelling through the over-world is a nice touch, and I enjoyed seeing the map change as I completed zones.
Sludgineers To The Rescue
I was pleasantly surprised by Sludgineers. I wasn’t expecting the variety of obstacles I faced, and I really enjoyed the surprise waiting for us at the end. The achievements are pretty reasonable, and I could see people completing them within eight to ten hours, making it a great game to associate with over a day or two.
If you are looking for an incremental game in a similar vein to Petal By Petal or Incremental Cats, then Sludgineers is the game for you. Players looking for Powerwash Simulator will be disappointed, but the jingles upon completing items do still hit pretty nicely.
Platforms: PC
Publishers: Funk Games, Gamersky Games
Developers: Snickerdoodle Games, Funk Games
Played On: Steam
Key Provided By: Keymailer
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