''Webbed'' is a 2021

puzzle-platform A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by Australian, Brisbane-based studio Sbug Games. A physics-based game set in a fantasy version of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, players control a

peacock spider ''Maratus'' is a spider genus of the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). These spiders are commonly referred to as peacock spiders due to the males' colorful and usually iridescent patterns on the upper surface of the abdomen often enhanced with ...

whose goal is to rescue her boyfriend after he is kidnapped by a

bowerbird Bowerbirds () make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate. The family ...

, with the help of other bugs. The player can use

spider web A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word ''Wikt:coppe, coppe'', meaning 'spider') is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey ...

s to swing to different areas, create bridges, or move objects. In October 2019, a

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

of ''Webbed'' was published on the

indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

website

Itch.io Itch.io (stylized in all lowercase) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 1,000,000 ...

. The finished game was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

on 9 September 2021. It was later ported to

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and

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on February 2, 2022.

Gameplay

Typical of puzzle platformers in 2D, it has a simple,

non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...

gameplay style that encourages players to explore and revisit areas of the open and interconnected map space to fully discover the five distinct areas. The player controls Buddy, a female jumping peacock spider, with the gameplay functionality centering mostly around her webbing abilities of which two different types can be used for varying means. The first is those that can be used for swinging the player across the map and dragging objects which disintegrate after being used. As well as stationery webs that can be used to attach between objects to make bridges or manipulate objects which remain until destroyed. Other gameplay features include laser shooting eyes which can be used to damage enemies, destroy map obstacles such as wood planks, webs, and push objects. As well as a skateboarding minigame, swimming and gliding using leaves to travel along air currents. It has a frequent check-pointing system, with the player able to die by swinging into or falling on spikes throughout the map without losing much progress. In addition the game has additional small fetch-quests for each section in collecting ant larvae, flies, pollen and baby spiders which reward the player with stamps in the game’s menu. This menu also shows the map areas with filled in circles to indicate that all collectibles have been found, and empty ones to indicate there are still more to find. Furthermore, a dance button can operate the spider player that when done nearby other insects, will cause them to dance in return. The game also features an ‘Arachnophobia mode’ in the menus that transforms the spiders into colored blobs.

Plot

The plot follows the player as Buddy, the female peacock jumping spider who sets off on the quest to save her boyfriend after he is kidnapped by a male

Satin Bowerbird The satin bowerbird (''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus'') is a species of passerine bird in the bowerbird family Ptilonorhynchidae that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Ptilonorhynchus''. Taxonomy The sati ...

. Recruiting the help and resources of three other distinct insects; bees, ants and dung beetles by helping with their own objectives such as completing the construction of a Mech-Ant by attaching its legs with webs. Together they help the player construct a hot air balloon fashioned out of the moth's silk cocoon, with the ants providing the manpower, the bees providing repairs to the balloon, and the dung beetles the fuel to reach the Bowerbird's nest in the Sky Bower.

Development

Webbed is developed by co-developers Riley Neville and Noah Seymour, and features a colorful pixel 2D art style with procedural animations created in GameMaker engine, for both its player and non-playable characters that give them reactive and generated movement. From an interview with Checkpointgaming, Riley Neville explained the reasoning for the arachnid player character stating “If you’ve seen videos of peacock spiders doing their little dances, they’re incredibly cute. There’s nothing threatening about them. That’s not an enemy! It’s about a millimetre across in total, it’s a tiny little dancing, colourful friend and we want to show that sort of character in our game.” Additionally, its other developer Noah, who has already made indie itch.io titles featuring spiders such as ‘A Mess of Legs’, notes a fascination and love for them “I just kind of keep falling down the rabbit hole further and further. I’ve bought big books of the most documented spiders in Australia and love to take pictures of them in my backyard.” Riley also showed an interest in accessibility for Webbed, spawning the Arachnophobia mode which changed all the insects into blobs, for those on social media who still expressed fear at the bug aspects.

Reception

Alex Walker of

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

gave Webbed a positive review despite noting his

arachnophobia Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions and ticks. The word "arachnophobia" comes from the Greek words arachne and phobia. Signs and symptoms People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they b ...

, praising the web mechanics and writing: "It's not exactly a breakthrough when it comes to platforming puzzles, but it's deeply, mechanically satisfying." WellPlayed Zach Jackson’s review of Webbed praises its whimsical and fun gameplay in particular its swinging mechanics, its solid and jovial soundtrack, but criticizing parts of its difficulty in moving objects with said webs, giving it an 8/10 score. “The web mechanics are fun and fluid, with the swinging especially one of the game’s highlights – fanging through the bush like George of the Jungle is a really good time.” Reviews on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

focus mainly on its ingenious puzzle design that is balanced with its easy gameplay fluidity, with many noting a drawback of being ultimately short and sweet. With user GamesHub writing “Webbed chose joy, whilst never sacrificing sharp puzzle design nor the fundamentals of platforming and web-swinging that make it a pleasure to play.”

Gameplay

Plot

Development

Reception

Awards

References

Further reading