Despite the short run time, Silt is a dramatically fascinating puzzle game that evokes the bleak, untold horrors of the darkest depths of our known world with unquestionably stellar atmosphere.
Silt is a tremendously evocative adventure, taking players into the furthest mysterious depths of the ocean.
It’s just a damn shame the journey is over so swiftly.
Denying the allure of Silt‘s aesthetic and atmosphere is an impossible task. Nearly every screen of the game grabs at the player’s attention with inky black animations and the grey tones of underwater horror spilling forth like a feature in a newspaper. This hand-drawn spectacle calcifies the impossible fears that may be possible miles below the shallow end, where man’s knowledge is obscured; not even the reach of technology can truly unfurl what lies in the gloomiest below.
Silt attempts to tell an alien tale, one of labyrinthine structures both organic and inorganic. One of ghastly lights that possess sentient beings. With each new moment in Silt, I was drawn in by the grotesquely beautiful things I saw, my mind racing with the “what if?” question. “What if this was what we would find if we swam deep enough?”
Recommending Silt on sight alone is a task that would come easy for most. Curious players should be able to see a few moments of gameplay and decide that it contains a kind of secret sauce that justifies a playthrough. The game should satiate those seeking a departure from the norm. This is a curious endeavor by developer Spiral Circus Games, an experiment that feels equally brave and expected in this gaming climate.
You see, we live in a post-Journey, post-Limbo world where short, poignant adventures can stand out among a large enough group of players that they don’t get swept under the rug. Unfortunately for Silt, it dances too close to a forgettable length.
I’ve played several games like Silt. I’m certain many have played at least a few games like Silt or have seen games of this ilk in one publication or another. But where Limbo was so singularly unique for its time and Journey so breathtakingly layered, Silt lacks a certain… something.
One of my sticking points with the game is its length but that factor can be a double-edged sword. Make the game too long and developers risk the charm rapidly evaporating. Make the game too short and players question the inherent value of the product. Journey, Limbo, or Abzu (if you’re looking for a nautical comparison) can be completed in a matter of hours. Yet I would argue that Limbo featured some dastardly trial and error, while Journey and its brethren ask the player to spend a bit more time soaking up its scenery changes and spectacle. Plus, on the first go, players usually take a bit more time.
Though I meandered quite often in Silt to ruminate on a well-crafted structure or vista, I was still able to complete the game in a few hours. And while those hours were enjoyable, they went by fast. Being a puzzle and an adventure game, Silt relies on the cleverness and complexity of its puzzles and the staying power of its moments. Certainly I spent time listlessly swimming around as my shadowy diver, avoiding danger by flapping away with my fins. Silt makes incredible use of screen real estate, almost forcing players to pause on the intricately layered artwork of a scene. But it’s the puzzles where the returns may feel diminishing.
As the diver, players can emit a spectral glow from their helmet. This illuminated tendril can snake across the water and possess a number of sea creatures. Perhaps a razor-toothed piranha is needed to snap some wires holding a barrier in place. A school of fish can soak up poison and kill vicious plants that snap up nearby lifeforms. Or a hard-headed shark can bash at a rock, causing it to be loosed on top of the head of a larger beast. At times, multiple creatures are used in unison to clear a path for the diver or to trigger an event that progresses things. From time to time, players must be speedy in their solutions and traversal or risk being attacked by the creatures they once possessed.
The mechanic is not incredibly complicated but does result in a number of clever gameplay moments that not only have interesting solutions but allow a particularly nifty event to unfold. Occasionally, a player’s mettle will be tested on sheer timing and speed. An early example involves chasing a dangling light through a series of pitch black tunnels while creatures try to snack on the player. Very rarely does the game introduce chance. That is, a moment where players die simply because they do not know any better. Often that was the “gotcha” mechanic found in Limbo, Inside, or countless side-scrolling adventures in earlier decades.
Spiral Circus wanted the player to feel smart, not punished simply for existing. Of course, that doesn’t always mean a checkpoint or two won’t shred any sense of progression and frustratingly cause lengthier sections to be repeated. But I consider this a constant risk for these types of games that don’t want to sever any kind of challenge or skill.
Ultimately, there’s not a lot I can say about Silt that does not feel like moderate amounts of praise. Going into the game I never expected it to be a puzzle adventure but I’m not really sure what else it could have been outside of guided tour of a wonderful mystery. As players weave in and out of the game’s greater narrative, a larger, more mysterious picture begins to fall into place and offers some satisfying mystique, causing the game to simply be an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon or evening or morning.
Silt flawlessly executes a style that permeates its entire construction. The hand-drawn visuals evoke the deadly, alien mysteries that lie at the bottom of whatever foreign ocean it takes place in. Its swirling, environmental storytelling sets a high bar that is only let down by its short runtime. By placing a number of engaging puzzles between the end goal and the player, enough joy can be seeped out of this strange, fascinating game to make it worth the cost. Silt may not feel entirely unique for some, yet its setting and aesthetic have few rivals.
