Supraland

What Supraland lacks in production value, it more than makes up for with fantastic puzzle and level design

It’s going to take a heck of a lot for anything to beat this game to be my favourite of 2019. What a splendid treat.

While there is clear potential in Supraland, the game suffers from an identity crisis. The whimsical setting and level design show potential, but the control problems, lack of direction in puzzles and odd narrative undertones make this a disappointing package. Look elsewhere for a more enjoyable game that will make one think outside of the (sand)box.

Published by Humble Games, Supraland is simply one of the best sandbox games I’ve ever played. It perfectly embodies the term, letting players define their experience. The only shortcomings in this title are some generic and lackluster character and item designs, but that’s a nitpick when stacked against everything Supraland has to offer. The gameplay feels like a love letter to a laundry list of classic games, doing justice to all of them. Supraland is a must-play game for fans of the open world.

If I come off angry it’s because clearly the developers of Supraland know how to make a great game, but I grew so tired of the more obtuse puzzles that I got to the volcano and quit. It just wasn’t fun anymore. In conclusion it’s the puzzles being such a big focus of this game but seemingly such a small focus of the development that I can’t recommend this game. Sure, others might get a kick out of it, but to me it doesn’t work as a puzzle game, the combat isn’t there enough to really comment on outside of it being okay, and the exploration is hampered by the puzzles so ultimately Supraland is a puzzle game that doesn’t really work. When the puzzles are good they still aren’t great, and that’s unfortunate.

Exploring Supraland's imaginative world will make you feel like a kid again and discovering all the secrets within it is great fun.

Supraland is a delight with a world that is brimming with secrets to discover. It is slightly too long and does have combat that feels largely superfluous, but the puzzles are consistently inventive and fun.

Supraland is an absolute joy to play and deserves to do well on consoles. Don't judge this book by its cover and expect a simplistic kid's game, because Supraland is a magnificent fusion of gaming's most legendary series, all wrapped up in a narrative and aesthetic that skewers some of mainstream gaming's worst excesses. Not all the jokes land, some of the puzzles may have you searching for hints, but you owe it to yourself to drop the dreary space marines and depressing post-apocalyptic worlds and surrender to the colourful wonders of Supraland.

Supraland takes a whole bunch of ideas from some well-known games and manages to combine them together to create what turned out to be a pretty memorable experience. It constantly surprised me with new puzzles and the exploring this well-designed world was a joy from start to finish. The combat isn’t great and the story is mostly there to give meaning to what you’re doing but those two things alone don’t take away too much. Supraland is one of the bigger surprises of 2020 to me so don’t let it pass you by. Also, while I reviewed this on PlayStation 4 the game is currently on Xbox Game Pass so if you subscribe to that now you really have no reason to not try this.

GREAT - The rough edges are there, but they’re for the most part very easy to ignore. Not only because this was a passion project from a single developer, but because the charming world and bright visuals make for a fun experience whether you’re new to the genre or a seasoned veteran.