Snakebird
Developer(s)Noumenon Games
Platform(s)
Release4 May 2015
Genre(s)Puzzle

Snakebird is a 2015 puzzle video game developed by Swedish studio Noumenon Games.[1] The sequels Snakebird Primer and Snakebird Complete were released in 2019 and 2023, respectively.

Development

Snakebird development began as early as March 2013. Development of a prototype continued for the Ludum Dare 27 game competition in August 2013, but the game was not submitted to the competition.[2] The game was released for PC on May 4, 2015 for US$6.99.[3] It was later released on mobile platforms in 2016.[4]

Gameplay

In each of the game's 53 levels, the player controls one or more characters, known as "snakebirds". Gameplay consists of moving the characters around a 2D grid, with movement similar to Snake, except with gravity along the y-axis. The objective of each level is to maneuver the characters to a goal, while collecting fruits that serve as objectives and avoiding obstacles. Collecting fruit increases the length of the characters, which usually makes it easier to navigate the levels. The challenge of the game arises from needing to control multiple characters in a way that builds towards reaching the goal, and the indirectness of the solutions.[5][6]

Sequel releases

Snakebird Primer
Developer(s)Noumenon Games
Platform(s)
Release
  • Android, iOS
  • 18 February 2019
  • Windows, Linux, macOS
  • 20 February 2019
Genre(s)Puzzle

Snakebird Primer, a sequel to the game, was released on 20 February 2019.[7] The sequel contains 70 levels, and is regarded as having been made substantially easier than the original to appeal to a wider audience.[8]

Snakebird Complete
Developer(s)Noumenon Games
Platform(s)
Release
  • Nintendo Switch
  • 24 November 2023
  • Windows, macOS
  • 29 December 2023
Genre(s)Puzzle

Snakebird Complete, a version of the game that contains all the levels from Snakebird and Snakebird Primer, was released for the Nintendo Switch on 24 November 2023,[9] as well as PC and Mac on 29 December 2023.[10]

Reception

Snakebird received positive reviews, with critics citing its visual design, describing it as "cute" while contrasting that aspect with its difficulty. Comments included Kotaku's descrption of the game as a "wolf in sheep's clothing"[5] and Pocket Gamer stating that "If it wasn't totally passé to call things 'the Dark Souls of,' I'd call Snakebird the Dark Souls of puzzle games".[11]

Touch Arcade rated Snakebird's iOS release five out of five stars, commenting that the game felt more natural played on a mobile device. They also praised its visual design, animations, and backgrounds, but commented on its difficulty, describing it as "tough" and stating that it was not for everyone.[4]

Eurogamer praised Snakebird Complete for its level design, the conciseness but trickiness of its puzzles, and its nonlinear level selection map.[12]

In 2019, Baba is You developer Hempuli Oy described Snakebird as "probably the singular title that has most affected Baba Is You's design".[13]

A team of researchers in 2020 found that small changes on the game levels can have a large impact on the length of a solution.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "About". Noumenon Games. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Eliasson, Felix (30 June 2015). "Snakebird development, images and history".
  3. ↑ "Review: Snakebird". Destructoid. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 Carter, Chris (29 July 2016). "'Snakebird' Review – Is it a Snake or is it a Bird?". Touch Arcade.
  5. 1 2 Junglist (7 September 2015). "Snakebird Is The Wolf In Sheep's Clothing Of Puzzlers". Kotaku.
  6. ↑ Davis, Ben (24 August 2015). "Review: Snakebird". Destructoid.
  7. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (20 February 2019). "Snakebird Primer is a friendly follow-up to the cute puzzler". Rock Paper Shotgun.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Jared (1 March 2019). "TouchArcade Game of the Week: 'Snakebird Primer'". Touch Arcade.
  9. ↑ Reynolds, Ollie (31 October 2023). "Exclusive: 'Snakebird Complete' Brings Two Addictive Puzzlers To Switch Next Month". Nintendo Life.
  10. ↑ McMullen, Chris (29 December 2023). "Brand-new 9/10 puzzle game is free to keep forever if you're fast". PCGamesN.
  11. ↑ Brown, Mark (30 December 2016). "Pocket Gamer's best mobile games of the year 2016 - Mark's top 5". Pocket Gamer.
  12. ↑ Donlan, Christopher (21 November 2023). "Snakebird Complete is a dazzler - and its map is just ingenious". Eurogamer.
  13. ↑ Stevenson, Jamie (7 May 2019). "Baba Is You creator on difficulty, Nintendo Switch and breaking the rules". Red Bull.
  14. ↑ Sturtevant, Nathan R.; Nicolas, Decroocq; Tripodi, Aaron; Guzdial, Matthew (19 October 2020). "The unexpected consequence of incremental design changes". Proceedings of the Sixteenth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment. AIIDE'20. AAAI Press: 130–136. ISBN 978-1-57735-849-7.
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