Who remembers the days before phones being smart, then? Amazingly there was a time when your mobile phone’s primary function was making phone calls. You only had so many characters with which to write messages, no emojis, (honest, if you wanted a smiley face you typed one,) and no internet. I know this sounds like some kind of horror story but it’s true. What some of the old models did have though was Snake. This insidiously addictive and difficult game had us breaking our fingers trying to dodge the ever-growing tail of our titular serpent while the world closed in around us. If you think I’m talking about some weird fever dream, read on and you’ll catch my drift. If you’re old like me and had a brick that just about knew phone numbers, read on anyway, it’ll be entertaining. The title is Temple of Snek and it’s all very much in this sort of nostalgic vein.
So, Temple of Snek is described as a dungeon-based puzzle adventure. I have to say that these are all words that sit very nicely together. As the story goes, the avatar of the goddess Snek lies in slumber as it guards her temple against foolish intruders. When grave robbers and raiders come to steal the treasures within the temple the stern priestesses sound the alarm and Snek awakens. The avatar will then eat anything unfortunate enough to get in its way and grow bigger with each meal.
Temple of Snek takes the rhythm and reaction-based mechanics of the game I mentioned from all those years ago and coils them through an interconnected puzzle dungeon with interactive music. You control Snek and in the spirit of the original titles start off small, and guide her through the dungeon, growing each time you make a meal of an unfortunate looter. Sometimes the challenge is growing a little longer to progress, other times it’s all about knowing what to do with your tail. The world will unlock in a style akin to the Metroidvanias we all know and love and as you go you’ll unlock new NPCs and puzzle types. Puzzles you previously thought impossible will also become solvable as you learn about how Snek moves in three dimensions.
In Temple of Snek, the titular temple is in the forest of a fantastical pre-Hispanic world. In a story that’s presented wordlessly, Snek will begin by protecting her home from press-ganged raiders. It’ll soon become apparent though, that the real villains are the conquistadores who will not only steal the temple’s treasures but ravage the environment too. These will be Snek‘s ultimate target if the avatar is able to protect the gold and return to its slumber. Outside of the story mode I’ve just mentioned, you’ll be able to enjoy Classic mode which introduces a twist on more traditional snake play. The creative types amongst you will also be also to explore Mek-a-Snek which will enable you to design your own Snek skin patterns and Snek Workshop which is a level editor for those of you wanting to make a share Snek puzzles on Steam. This should give you plenty to go at if you fall in love with the game.
If you’re an old hand that loved the original snake games and want to see what this concept is like when it’s pulled bang up to date, Temple of Snek left Early Access over on Steam yesterday, (February 15th,) and is now available as a full release here. For those of you new to this sort of thing I strongly recommend having a look for yourselves. This sort of gameplay is fiendishly addictive and a lot of fun when you get the hang of it. As an extra important note; Temple of Snek is currently discounted by 20% and sitting at £7.99. All the more reason to give this title a closer look.
