Clustertruck

''Clustertruck'' is a 2016 platformer game developed by the Swedish independent studio Landfall Games and published by tinyBuild. The game consists of nine worlds in which the player must navigate by jumping on moving trucks to avoid obstacles and the ground, culminating in a boss fight. This concept originated from Landfall Games's founder, Wilhelm Nylund, picturing himself leaping across trucks to escape traffic. ''Clustertruck'' was released for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, Windows, and the Xbox One in September 2016, followed by a version for the Nintendo Switch in March 2018. While praised for its gameplay, graphics, and original soundtrack, ''Clustertruck'' Nintendo Switch port was primarily criticized for its controls.

Gameplay

''Clustertruck'' is a platformer game played from the first-person perspective. Across nine worlds with ten levels each, the player navigates to a designated goal by jumping across moving trucks with real-time physics that collide, flip, and tip over. During a level, the player may sprint or slow down time. Touching the ground or any obstacle triggers a game over. Each world introduces a new obstacle; for example, the third world has ice that causes trucks to be slippery, the fourth world adds lasers, and the sixth world adds a boulder that the player must run away from. The game culminates in a boss fight in the final world. The player may earn bonus points by skipping trucks or remaining airborne, which can be spent on power-ups, such as grappling hooks, double jumps, speed boosts, air dashes, and a jet pack. The player can use the level editor to construct and share custom levels.

With ''Clustertruck'' Twitch integration, the game's developers and Twitch users can modify the game by voting in the chat. Modifications include rickrolling, time manipulation, color changing, on-screen messages, exploding trucks, earthquakes, laser trucks, high and low gravity, and inverted controls.

Development and release

The development of ''Clustertruck'' began in 2015 and spanned one year. While traveling home from Gamescom in 2015, Wilhelm Nylund, the lead designer and CEO of Landfall Games, imagined himself escaping traffic by jumping on trucks to get home faster, inspiring him to develop the prototype of ''Clustertruck''. New features were playtested and discussed within the team on whether it would be implemented into the game. Building the game in Unity (game engine), Unity, Landfall Games ultimately added power-ups and obstacles that passed. After a few months in development, an early alpha build was released. During the alpha phase, playtesters discovered they could finish levels early by reaching the front of the truck line. They messaged the developers on Discord to make the game more optimal for speedrunning.

Landfall Games planned to release ''Clustertruck'' by April 2016. This was postponed as the game's early popularity led the team to extend its development. At PAX South 2016, it was announced that Landfall Games had signed a publishing deal with tinyBuild. On September 27, 2016, the game released for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, Windows, and the Xbox One, with an estimated 65,000 sales within its first month of release. In October 2016, ''Clustertruck'' was updated with a Halloween-themed map. On March 15, 2018, the game was released for the Nintendo Switch.

For an April Fools' Day prank, Landfall Games created a parody of ''Superhot'' called ''Super Truck'' in 2016; similar to the original game, trucks would only move forward when the player does so. Permission was obtained from the ''Superhot'' development team prior to its production.

Reception

''Clustertruck'' received scores of 76/100 on Metacritic for the PC version, 74/100 for the Nintendo Switch port, and 69/100 for the Xbox One edition. On OpenCritic, the game holds a 50% approval rating.

Critics generally praised the gameplay, likening it to the children's game the floor is lava. Other reviewers commended how the gimmicks in each world and stressful gameplay kept the game fun. Emily Sowden of ''Pocket Gamer'' noted the sudden increase in difficulty, stating that the game is "brutal" and "unfair at times" but also "super simple to pick up" for any player. ''Nintendo Life'''s Gonçalo Lopes praised the game for "masterfully" implementing a combination of casual and hardcore gameplay and giving the player choices on how to beat a level. ''Nintendo World Report'' Donald Theriault felt satisfied after finishing a challenging level, and ''HobbyConsolas'''s Alberto Lloret praised how the game's variety in worlds captivated players. Ian Dallas, for a ''Game Informer'' report, highlighted the game's "weird, surreal energy" of leaping across trucks and called it "the strangest game" since ''Katamari Damacy''. While Peter Bathge of ''PC Games'' stated that highscore lists incentivized players to purchase power-ups, Theriault felt that the double jump was the only necessary one. Writing for ''Destructoid'', Peter Glagowski found the first world "disappointing" with a "weird", repetitive gimmick, adding on that the game's boss level was too long, went against the game's concept, and "sucks the fun out".

''Clustertruck'' was praised for its original soundtrack. Lopes felt the "catchy tunes" fit the chaotic gameplay, and Theriault, while critical that it "isn't all that memorable", appreciated how the music did not restart with each new level attempt. Lopes noted that the game's use of flat, shaded polygons helped to maintain performance.

The Nintendo Switch port faced criticism for its controls. Some critics stated that turning the game's camera with the right Joy-Con's analog stick was too sensitive. Bathge found it "almost impossible" to control the player's jump and rotate the camera simultaneously with the same controller. Theriault thought the game "ran fine" on the Nintendo Switch, and Lloret argued that the game's short levels fit with the console's "portable nature" due to their length.

References

External links

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* {{MobyGames, /80856/clustertruck/
2010s fads and trends
2016 video games
3D platformers
First-person video games
Indie games
Landfall Games games
Linux games
MacOS games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Single-player video games
TinyBuild games
Video games developed in Sweden
Video games with Steam Workshop support
Video games with time manipulation
Video games with user-generated gameplay content
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