Silt Reviews
Silt is a rather short, basic to control game. The story was intriguing from the start, and if you can look past how bland and unfun it is to play at times it might be worth checking out. For me though a nice art style and possibly interesting story simply isn’t enough to overcome how poor feeling and frustrating I found everything else.
Silt, the first game from UK developer Spiral Circus, taps into shadowy surrealism to present an art piece that is eerily beautiful. It has its flaws as an entry into the indie pantheon of 2D arthouse puzzle games, but its aesthetic direction balances out the uneven mechanics. If players can manage the occasionally frustrating controls and somewhat repetitive puzzle design, they will find delight in the morbidity and an interesting mystery to invest in.
Silt is a fascinating puzzle game with a beautiful art style and poetic delivery, but the short length and unrealized potential leave Silt still needing to find itself.
Silt is a truly stunning game, with dark visuals that draw you in and impressive sound design that underpins a murky and sinister world. The simple puzzle solving acts more as a conduit for the artistic vision than to offer a legitimate challenge, but the experience is undoubtedly enjoyable despite the gameplay offering little in the way of difficulty. The story is a little vague and open to interpretation, but artistic-types will find it genuinely intriguing – the only real downside is that you’ll certainly be left wanting more, with the story reaching a haunting crescendo just when it feels like it could open the door to so much more. I would play another game set in the universe of Silt in a heartbeat.
There’s just enough story to have your actions make sense and have purpose, while still being open to interpretation. The lifeforms within the seascape are well varied and creepy. The possession gameplay mechanic is refreshingly different and well-utilized. Silt ventures seamlessly into feelings of tension and awe in equal measure. It’s a relatively short experience, but it’s a gem of a game that sticks with you long after you’ve finished playing.
Silt’s plot is delivered very similarly to that of the Playdead games, being entirely dialogue free. It’s certainly a game about the experience and emotions of what you’re seeing and hearing, as you swim your way across an alien underwater world, filled with beauty and nightmares galore. While there are elements of horror here it’s not as deliberately horrifying as Limbo with its grisly death animations, and is more interested in invoking a sense of wonder as you explore. For fans of the Playdead games Silt is an easy recommendation, but it’s also fully accessible for newcomers to this style of puzzle game.
Silt is a brilliant game — most of the time. The environments are breathtaking, the world fully realized, and there’s a sense of horror that manages to seep into you while you play it even though it’s not really a scary game.
Silt is a short experience set in a beautiful and creepy black and white underwater world, that doesn’t overstay its welcome. That’s a good thing cause the puzzle design is a little shallow.
"Meh, another LIMBO game." Because when there is a milestone in art, it is normal to look at yourself in it. But Silt knows how to be a debtor and a creator, also in another brief adventure in black and white. But Spiral Circus Games have printed their differentiating element in the way of facing the adventure underwater, instead of being another "platform with a child". Because the gameplay is enriched and expanded with its particular system of possessing beings that open the way for us with their own qualities. Precisely for this reason, because it goes beyond the inspiration it uses, it's a shame not because Silt is short, but because it isn't longer with these interesting mechanics that ask for more More!
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If Silt has anything to say beyond ‘You might dig this moody atmosphere’ then it was lost on me. Some of its scenes, however, will stay with me for a long time to come.
Even though SILT is truly beautiful, it is a little too simplistic and finicky. Despite all of this criticism, the visual presentation, moody atmosphere, and interesting, if underutilized, possession mechanic makes SILT quite the experience that can be recommended with some strong caveats attached.
Silt is the beginning of what will hopefully become a fresh new studio in indie gaming. The visual comparison to games like Limbo will soon be forgotten I’m sure. Silt is an indie game with its own nightmarish rules and a subtle logic. There is challenge to be had in its puzzles, so if mind-bending nightmares are your thing, and if you like the thought of possessing and sucking up the souls of giant creatures then hopefully you also think it deserves the award below.
Puzzles using divers, deep-sea and possession succeed to increase immersion in early game. The atmospheric monochrome graphic and heart-warming soundtracks are also unforgettable. However, the puzzles are a bit too much simple and repetitive, as well as the narrative seems to fail keeping the tension till the end.
Review in Korean | Read full review
A year from now we’re unlikely to be able to recount an incredible puzzle or ingenious solution, but Silt’s lasting impression of incredible art and perfectly pitched atmosphere will be giving us nightmares for some time.
An entertaining and quite different aquatic proposal even having a clear inspiration in LIMBO. Enigmatic in its story and simple in its gameplay, we find a short but very enjoyable adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Any image from Silt serves perfectly to convey what the game is all about: a rather lonely and dangerous journey. At no point does it hold our hand, leaving us at the mercy of the ocean floor. Although it is characterized by these attributes, it is definitely a journey worth taking.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Too often in the indie space I've found that games that bill themselves as being horror in some way have generally failed to deliver, or at least deliver in a convincing manner...
Stilt is a fantastic nod to the classic platformers that have come before. It’s bright, bouncy, fluid, fun, and presents a hefty challenge. I’ve loved my time with this incredible offering and it has certainly bounced its way into my heart. I look forward to seeing you in the PVP arena of Stilt when it springs onto PSVR2 on March 8th 2024.