As I move my little boat to clean more black sludge from the water in Spilled!, a new indie game from solo developer Lente, the oceanbed below me starts to come alive. Now a clear blue, I can see fish and turtles swimming around marine plants that pop with color, and gently sway beneath the surface. As satisfying as it is to clean all of the muck away by itself, what I'm doing becomes that much more meaningful at the sight of all of the inhabitants that call this place home. With every spill I clean away, and with each plastic bottle I scoop up and deposit at a recycling barge, I'm restoring this natural ecosystem and helping the wildlife reclaim their habitat and thrive once more.
Spilled! is a short game, with it only taking me a little over an hour to complete, but it's the best 68 minutes I've spent in a long time. The delightful, pixelated world complements the soothing music that plays as I work to ensure every single biome is completely clean. I fall into a relaxing flow as I go, and I could have happily spent several more hours clearing waterways.
Boatful of care
Spilled! is a linear experience that sees you work to clear different aquatic biomes. How you actually clean the water is pretty simple: you just have to move your boat over any spills, or use the scooper-like fixture at the front of the little vessel to gather up any bottles that float in the water. As you collect black oil sludge that sits on the water's surface, a container fixed on the back of your boat will start to fill up. Anything you collect can then be deposited at a recycling barge in exchange for money. Once you've cleared and earned enough, the next biome will unlock.
The coins you earn from cleaning the water can also be used to upgrade your boat's container, scooper, and fan-speed so you can move your small dinghy faster, or collect more waste. Each upgrade costs more and more as you go, and I find myself determined to clean every single inch of any given area — not only for the bonus of earning more upgrades, but to ensure the wildlife there can be free of any human pollution. Every time an area is completely spick and span, I get the same kind of feeling of satisfaction that I so often get from games like of PowerWash Simulator.
You'll need those upgrades because each biome level you unlock gets increasingly bigger, with heavier spills and more plastic infesting the water. Every area also introduces a new feature, such as the ability to spray water in order to put out fires, or clean sludge that's clinging to cliff sides or rocks. I also occasionally come across a bonus objective, like locating a beach ball and using my scooper to move it over to another boat that lost the ball. While you essentially have the same goal through the game, the fresh features and extra additions throughout are a wonderful touch that shakes up the experience in small ways.
As well as the wildlife swimming below each location, you'll also come across some cute animals on the water's surface that you can rescue by clearing away the spills – from Wally the walrus to a crocodile called Peaches (hat tip to the developer for the excellent names of each and every one, because they all brought a big smile to my face). Once again, this instils the idea that what you're doing matters. By restoring the environment, you're helping to care for the animals that live here.
It's that compassionate care that makes Spilled! feel like a special, meaningful game about clearing away pollution that's wrapped up in a short package. If you're looking for a wonderfully laid back, short experience, I can't recommend Spilled! enough – and every purchase of the game donates 10 cents to the Whale and Dolphin conservation charity, which is just an added bonus.
Spilled! is out now on PC. For more recommendations, head on over to our Indie Spotlight series, or see what's ahead with our roundup of upcoming indie games.
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