In fact, I welcome most challenging games with open arms (except Super Meat Boy ), but at certain points it almost felt like Clustertruck was unintentionally extremely frustrating. Now, I’m no stranger to challenging games. Abilities like the grappling hook and the double jump can assist in movement of your character, since the standard moveset of jumping once quickly becomes impossible to use, but ‘utility’ abilities are separate and moreso allow you to control the world around you – the ‘time slow’ utility ability can slow down time to give you a greater chance of landing on that one truck you’re trying to land on. These style points can then be used to purchase special abilities to aid you in your truck-hopping adventure. These “style points” are Clustertruck ’s form of in-game currency, and are awarded for doing things like completing levels quickly or staying in the air for extended periods of time. Upon completing a level, you’re met with how many “style points” you’ve received for that level. You’ll need a keen sense of timing, and a whole lot of luck. While the core gameplay mechanics are simple, it doesn’t take long for the levels to get increasingly tougher and demanding. I’m inclined to say Clustertruck is easy, but considering that I spent roughly an hour on a single level which required one to jump from rotating truck to rotating truck in the gap between two rotating gears, I’m afraid Clustertruck is anything but easy. For example, the steampunk-themed world made exclusive use of cogs and gears, which were often placed in the middle of the track and required you to time the exact right moment to jump through, lest you be pushed off the track and away from the safety of the trucks.
These worlds range from a forest theme to sci-fi, and each world has their own unique set of obstacles you must face to spice up the regular truck-jumping gameplay.
Of course, on paper it sounds like a game created with the intention of teaching children the importance of road safety, but Clustertruck is a challenge for even the most hardcore fans of the platformer genre.Ĭlustertruck consists of nine worlds, each containing ten levels each, for a grand total of 90 levels. You progress through each level by jumping from one truck to another truck, and if you touch the ground or anything but a truck, you lose.
Landfall Games’ Clustertruck is a very simple platformer in which your only goal is to not fall off of trucks. On my list of game concepts I never thought would ever actually exist, a game about staying on top of moving trucks was pretty high up there so you can imagine my surprise when I found out that not only does a game like that exist, but it’s actually fun. Story by Jorge Soares-Paulino, Copy Editor