Spilled! Review

As a Dredge and What The Car sicko (I love any game where I can play as a boat or car), Spilled seemed like a dream come true for me. It was definitely at the top of my list to check out for Spring 2025 indies after playing the demo last year. 

In Spilled, developed by Lente, you play as a clean up boat tasked with removing toxins and saving animals from the spewed spillage of a much larger (and no doubt, evil corporation) boat. It’s a short game with a pretty simple concept, which is kind of my bread and butter. Mechanically, the game asks you to steer and accelerate the boat to suck up the oil and clear off nearby rocks or put out fires with your hose. As you complete these tasks in each little biome, you are rewarded with coins, which you use to upgrade your boat.

Spilled! in Action

This game gets you going quickly with simple mechanics and a very brief introduction to Evil Boat. I understood what was going on and what was being asked of me right away, which is essential for a 51 minute experience!

Sights and Sounds of the Open Water

Spilled has a beautiful pixelated art style and color palette. As I cleaned up the toxins, water became clear and I was able to witness the vibrant and detailed ecosystems full of coral, fish, and rock formations revealed beneath the surface. Combining this with the solar panels, wind turbines, and the flora and fauna above sea level makes for a visually stunning environment that is warm and inviting to take in. The top down view of my little boat in the world of the game was very effective, and it’s easy to form a clear picture of who and where I am. Discovering underwater biomes as you clean up the water is 80% of the fun of this game! 

This game is a total treat for the ears and the sound FX design was probably my favorite part of the game. Here is a list of some good sounds you can look forward to hearing, as well as some of my favorite audio moments.

In Spilled you’ll hear:

• Twinkly piano riff when you finish cleaning up an area, or discover/save a new creature. 
• A triumphant horn section triggers when the gate to a new area unlocks.
• The bouncy and bright sound of two plastic jugs colliding on the surface of water was something I didn’t know I needed. 
• Rain falling and fire burning is just loud and realistic enough to match the visuals. 
• The soundtrack is genuinely great. There are some repeating musical moments but I never got tired of them. 
• The music really supports and accompanies the dynamic water noises ™ nicely. Shout out to Prologi for the music composition and sound FX design! I also noticed that our dev cites Freesound.org in the credits, and cites both the title of the sound effect and the username of the artist who uploaded it. This is exactly how it should be done, and I love seeing devs use Freesound.org as a resource and correctly citing the creators of each sound used in the game. 
• Prologi manages to create music that mirrors the same vibes as what you would hear watching Planet Earth or some other nature documentary, which fits so perfectly within the world of Spilled. Impressive! 

Crystal Clear Game Design

Collecting the oil and cleansing the waters is satisfying, because you can see the aquatic biomes change color and rapidly come to life, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Combining this with the gentle hum of my boat and the wonderful water noises, it all comes together to scratch just the right itch in my cozy gamer brain. I found the boat pretty smooth to navigate, steer, and reverse around the crevices of this terrain. 

As I cleaned up the toxins, water became clear and I was able to witness the vibrant and detailed ecosystems full of coral, fish, and rock formations revealed beneath the surface.

Discovering and saving the animals is cute and fun and, true to the vibes of this game, is a very straightforward experience. All collected creatures are neatly displayed in a list on the right side of the screen. Some of them have delightfully non-traditional names. Why call a creature a frog when you can name them Croakfort instead?

A Few Murky Moments

There were a few moments where the game didn’t feel great to play, because maneuvering the boat became a little frustrating. Particularly the moments where I was asked to pull up barrels to the surface with my giant boat magnet. Visually, I couldn’t quite figure out where to position my boat to successfully grab these from the ocean floor’s bedrock. These moments required me to be a little bit more precise, but mechanically, I didn’t feel capable of being that precise. Getting my boat in the perfect position for these moments wasn’t as simple as the rest of the game led me to believe it would be.

Spilled! Trailer

As someone who praises the shorter experiences, I can’t believe that I’m about to complain about this. I wish Spilled was just a little bit longer! It really goes by in the blink of an eye. Just as I feel like I’m getting into the vibe and groove of the game, it’s over. There are eight biomes to clean up, which start small and increase in size, but are each quite short to play through.  I would have loved at least two more levels, I think it might have rounded out the whole experience. The environments are really exciting to take in, and I was definitely eager for more. 

There’s a specific moment near the end of the game that has left me scratching my head. I was honestly a bit shocked, because it feels like a drastic vibe shift. Your little boat is tasked with an objective that feels strangely violent, in a way that didn’t really work for me compared to what I had experienced thus far in the game. However, it’s not a deal breaker and I do appreciate the element of total surprise. I think many players won’t be expecting this. I definitely wasn’t!

No Small Games was provided with a review key of Spilled! by Lente

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No Small Games is an indie game recap and review podcast brought to you by hosts Kate and Emily! They became friends while streaming on Twitch and bonded over their love of indie video games. In each episode of No Small Games, the two will discuss an indie game they both played independently. They’ll compare their experiences: the good, the bad, their most memorable moments of their playthroughs.

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