Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff
Screaming Loaf is a 2D puzzle-platform game, made by Ashley Spencer-Phiilips, Ashley got in contact with me through Twitter and asked me to review the game. So, I have.
Now just because someone asks nicely, does not mean I will go nicely in response, my reviews are always honest and fair.
Clearly this is a game that does not take itself too seriously, the name alone should tell you that, so from the name can you guess what the game is about? Yes, you guessed right, it is about a loaf of bread, that can scream. That is a sentence I have never written before!
The basic idea of the game is that various items from the fridge want to become part of a sandwich, and they need some bread to succeed, however the loaf of bread has no interest in becoming a sandwich, so it wants to resist all attempts, this is where you the player come in, your job is to control the loaf of bread, and avoid being smeared by all manner of fridge based foods. From jars of jam, to butter and even cheese. You can run, but you can't hide, luckily your bread has an amazing and unique skill, it can scream, and when it does so, it allows it to fight back. The scream will shatter glass jam jars, melt butter and explode cheese.
The game is separated into simple levels. To beat the level, you just need to destroy all of your fridge-based enemies.
You can move left and right, jump, scream, but you can also drop a slice of bread behind, this allows for some interesting tactics, as the lone slice can also scream, it can be re-added to the loaf too. If you lose all of your slices you will die, and every time an enemy touches you, a slice leaves you. You can also use the scream to move levers, blow up balloons, move across water as well as attacking your enemies.
You can also leave slices of bread, to help weigh down a balance, which you can then use to get to out of reach places.
With 129 levels spread across 3 stories, and an online leaderboard, the game is certainly unqiue.
With all that said, is the game actually any good?
The platforming elements will take some time to get used to, remember you are controlling a loaf of bread, so things have to be a bit different. The levels are "tight" in their construction, and not a lot of room to move, or make mistakes, luckily you can replay them as much as you want, all the way trying to improve your score.
There is a slight lack of instruction at times, for example the first time I came face to face with butter, I screamed at it, and seemingly nothing happened, other than slowing it down. I later realised that it needed a lot of screaming, to finally melt.
Once you get the hang of the game, it is fun, yes, it is silly, the idea for the game is bizarre, but put everything together, and it just kind of works.
The Good
Fun, silly gameplay. The game is FREE, so literally will cost you nothing outside of your sanity. And although it is ad supported, the ads are not too bad, 5 second wait, click on the X, and that's it.
The Bad
The Bad
There is a lack of instruction at times, something I have brought up with the game maker, and hopefully this will be fixed in future updates. I also think that larger levels and a way to zoom out the perspective would also be good.
Overall
The game is free, so you have nothing to lose, download it, play it, and make your own mind up.
I score Screaming Loaf, a toasty 7/10
Out Now on the Play Store for Android.
