Octogeddon
A vengeful octopus evolves through tentacle upgrades.
Octogeddon is an action-strategy video game with roguelike elements, developed by All Yes Good and released for Nintendo Switch in 2019. It was created by George Fan, designer of Plants vs. Zombies and Insaniquarium, and features a giant octopus seeking vengeance against humanity. The game received generally positive reviews for its humorous art style and addictive gameplay.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- All Yes Good
- Platforms
- Windows, Switch
- Released
- February 8, 2018: Windows; May 16, 2019: Switch
- Genre
- Action, strategy
- Designer
- George Fan
- Programmer
- Kurt Pfeifer
- Artist
- Rich Werner
- Composer
- Jimmy Hinson
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Octogeddon is an arcade action-strategy game with roguelike elements. The player controls the titular octopus, Octogeddon, who seeks vengeance after watching a video of a chef making sushi. The game has five stages, each divided into six levels: the first three levels take place in the ocean, the last three on land. The octopus uses its limbs to attack enemies and must be rotated to aim them. Octogeddon has hit points that decrease when hit; losing all hit points costs a life. Permadeath applies: if all lives are lost, the game restarts. Between stages, the player buys more powerful limbs or abilities with coins collected during levels. New limbs are selected at random. Between games, shells can be spent on extra lives, hit points, and DNA, which increases the number of limb choices between levels. Stronger enemies appear in earlier levels on subsequent playthroughs.
Development and release
George Fan designed Insaniquarium and Plants vs. Zombies for PopCap Games. Days later, Fan created Octogeddon for the 2012 Ludum Dare contest, whose theme was evolution. He designed the game so the character constantly evolves by acquiring new limbs, each with a function, until it becomes a massive shooting machine. The prototype received positive reception, leading Fan to continue development. He founded All Yes Good with Rich Werner, artist for Plants vs. Zombies, and Kurt Pfeffer, programmer for the Xbox 360 port of Plants vs. Zombies. Jimmy Hinson composed the soundtrack. In December 2017, Fan began a closed beta with players who contacted him on Twitter; PCGamesN gave away eight beta Steam codes that month. Octogeddon was released on Steam on February 8, 2018, and a Nintendo Switch port followed on May 16, 2019.
Reception
Octogeddon holds an aggregate score of 82/100 on Metacritic, indicating generally positive reviews. Critics compared it to Plants vs. Zombies, noting similarities in art style and gameplay structure but generally finding it not as strong. John Walker of Rock, Paper, Shotgun called it not the sure-fire hit that Plants vs. Zombies was, and Chris Carter of Destructoid felt it lacked that game's replay value. The gameplay and art style were praised: Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat found the destruction satisfying, and Common Sense Media called the gameplay addictive. Walker and Carter found the game underwhelming at first but enjoyable later. Angharad Yeo of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation criticized the permadeath as grindy and dissatisfying, though co-reviewer Gemma Discroll saw it as promoting replayability. The game was also criticized for occasional crashes and glitches. The art style was considered silly and humorous, especially the octopus itself, though Walker felt enemy design offered no delights.
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