Smintheus is a puzzle adventure game that combines some RPG elements all wrapped up into one gorgeous adventure!
It’s a 2D puzzler where you play as a mouse named Gerald. You’re a young craftsman who was ostracized from your home village because of danger from the local cat. So now you’re on a lonesome adventure in a beautiful fantasy world.
Smintheus is a top-down platformer with some seriously amazing artwork. It features rich, colorful worlds with lots of special effects like glows and color contrasts. It looks like something from the N64 or Game Boy era with remastered graphics. I know that’s a weird comparison, but that’s the vibe I got from trying out this game.
The puzzles are simple and basic and aren’t designed to slow down your pace. You can solve them quickly and move onto the next one so your adventure is always rolling. You’ll see familiar puzzles like tile sliding and box pushing tasks. You’ll also see some more complex and unique ones like gadget placements, which I haven’t really seen in other games before.
The game is mainly a “complete one area and move onto the next” type of thing with some mild puzzle elements thrown into it. The most enjoying part is simply just looking at the environments you’ll encounter. The puzzles are second rate in my opinion. I found the exploration and level design much more interesting.
Besides the puzzling and exploring, you also get a few tools that you can use offensively to take down enemies. Some of the tools will be needed to solve puzzles as well.
The game also has crafting elements to it where you need to build stuff to make progress- especially bridges or getting across rivers, lakes, and building on water. This adds a whole new element of gameplay, but it seems underutilized. You can also do quests on the side with the primary quest as well. You have a nice inventory layout that has all your items, gadgets, attributes, and quests on one screen.
The antagonist of the game is a powerful creature who will attempt to take you down as you go about your mousey life. There are some areas where you need to sneak around and go dark in order to not get caught. There are also plenty of mobs to fight as well. The game also lets you sneak around them if you wish (being a mouse means sneaking through enemy lines!).
Throughout your adventure, you’ll find a few NPCs who you can interact with. They have some basic dialog and contribute mildly to the story, but it seems like they’re still a work-in-progress.
Smintheus also has a nice little retro-style OST from the 1980s. Each world has a unique track to it and they’re quite fitting to the game.
If you’re in for a simple and cute little indie puzzler, Smintheus is worth a try. It features gorgeous artwork with easy puzzles and the element of exploration. Crafting and survival elements are also used lightly throughout the game so it feels almost like an RPG.
It’s free to play and you can download it using the link below. Don’t let this adventure game sneak by you!
- Nice artwork with nice coloration
- Solve puzzles that don’t slow you down
- Use tools offensively and to progress
- Sneak mode
- Unique worlds with NPCs
- Nice OST
- Crafting element could be more utilized
- More quests and story-building would be awesome
(Via Developer/Game Page)
Download and Play Smintheus (Early Access)
Hidden indie gem finder. Anything that indie devs come up that shakes the Earth- I’m first in line. I eat indies for breakfast.