After playing the tutorial and a few missions, we weren't quite sure what to make of what we were seeing. Spitlings' first impression with the Co-Optimus crew was one of uncomfortableness and uncertainty. Why would someone make a game about spitting on things? What possessed someone to design these little spitting nightmare creatures? But soon as we piled together in an online co-op session of three - we started to feel more and more comfortable with our bodily fluid swapping co-op platforming...
Yes, Spitlings does have a quirky concept and theme, but the charm of the game is in its simplicity. At its core it's a platformer that mixes physics elements and dodging mechanics. Players need to launch globs of spit at different colored bouncing liquid that splits when hit like a Dungeons and Dragons Slime into smaller bits, until eventually disappearing. That's pretty much it. The levels last anywhere from 10 seconds to 30 seconds to complete and come fast and furious.
Players will die and restart a lot, and in co-op, one player death is a fail for the whole team. So players really need to be in sync on how they will split up and tackle the levels themselves. Complete a couple of levels and you'll unlock another "adorable" spitling - which range in themes from weird monsters, to sea creatures to office equipment and anything in between.
Perhaps most of the fun we had was just the sheer insanity of the concept married with plenty of jokes around what is actually happening on the screen. Spitting into the mouth of a co-op player actually became a strategy. SPITTING INTO THE MOUTH OF YOUR FRIEND IS BENEFICIAL IN SPITLINGS. You hate to see it...
Catch our stream recap below with plenty of puns and inuendos to make you uncomfortable.
Spitlings is out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Google Stadia and Xbox One. It features four player couch or online co-op, varying by platform.