Adventurers take note, there’s a new sandbox world for you to explore. So grab your swords and equip that armor because you’ll be diving head first into one of the most dangerous worlds you’ve ever experienced… inside an actual sandbox. Supraland, from developer Supra Games, offers players a unique take on adventure, exploration, and adventure. So grab that coffee, kick back and enjoy our Supraland review.
Set in a literal sandbox, Supraland is a first-person Metroidvania puzzle game. Taking on the role of a red guy, you’re tasked with figuring out why the neighboring blue village is bent on destroying your water supply. So with little more than a thirty-second intro you’re tasked with saving the red village from certain doom. Light on story, Supraland focuses instead on allowing players to explore, discover and puzzle their way to hidden upgrades, secret areas and unique ways to solve problems.
Visually Supraland offers a fun, light-hearted art style that allows it to remain relevant and timeless simultaneously. The world itself is creatively designed and immediately reminded me of the classic “ Honey I Shrunk the Kids”. It’s both sad and telling that I refer to that movie as a classic but the point is that Supraland offers a unique perspective on the world which in turn creates a fun and interesting world to explore.
Supra Games seems to have tried to balance the game mechanics between combat, puzzling and exploration attempting to not lean too heavily on any one of them. This is a very delicate balance to strike but I was pleasantly surprised at just how well the developer has managed to handle this tension. At no point did the game seem to lean too heavily on any one of the game mechanics but instead blended them all together nicely.
Combat is a straightforward affair with whatever weapon you have equipped simply striking whatever monster is in front of you. Through upgrades, both purchased and discovered, combat becomes a more complex and rewarding experience as you explore and puzzle your way through the world.
Puzzles in Supraland range from basic push this to activate this to more complex Goldberg style affairs requiring you to set up and execute complex chain reactions. Overall it’s a very rewarding experience in a similar vein to games like portal without being so complex that it halts the flow of the game. Completing puzzles rewards players with everything from coins (used to purchase upgrades) to story progression such as unlocking new areas or triggering key events.
Exploration is an extremely rewarding venture for players to partake in as much of the worlds little nooks and crannies offer some of the best rewards. Based on my play time most of these rewards come in the form of coin and upgrades and allow the player to access areas or meet interesting NPCs that you would otherwise miss altogether.
Speaking of NPC’s I would be remiss not to mention just how great the comedy is in Supraland most of which is delivered through the NPCs in the world. To avoid most of the spoilers I won’t give you any specific examples other than to say that I may have come across a very unique chemist in my travels. Suffice it to say, it’s worth taking the time to have a look around in each area as you are guaranteed to meet some very pop culture characters along the way.
