Scrabdackle is the latest from publisher Fellow Traveller (1000xResist, Citizen Sleeper) and was developed by Canadian solo developer Jakefriend. Following a successful Kickstarter, Act 1 of this Metroidvania, open-world adventure game is now ready to be unleashed to the public.
With this act 1 containing over 12-15 hours of content alone, and the other two planned acts promising the same, the full game will end up with over 40-50 hours of playtime. Jakefriend has stated, though, that the latter acts are years away. Because of this, the game is listed as in early access on Steam, though it’s important to note that this first act is finished and ready to go. I found this outlook to be quite fascinating, and when you look at games like Deltarune and Dispatch, they are prime examples of how this episodic approach can work. I did reach out to Jakefriend about why they decided to go down this route, and they had this to say on the matter:
It’s partly because I like the narrative approach of letting things simmer between acts and letting players speculate between big ‘events’ of updates to look forward to, and I like to release things as I make them. My original contract would have been releasing the full game with acts as a soft structure inside, but I was struggling with sitting on my work so long, unable to share it (for context, I’m 5.5 years in, finished Act 1 a year-and-a-half ago, and still have a long road ahead for A2+3 content – all of that time I’ve had to keep most of my work under wraps).
The narrative of Scrabdackle is based around the novice wizard Blue, who, after the wizard academy is attacked, is thrown out of his sheltered life and into the world of Scrabdackle. This starts an adventure where Blue has to figure out who attacked the academy and discover more about themselves along the way.
Of course it’s not that simple, as Blue will have to find different spells that will give him new abilities, weapons and skills in order to beef up his attack power and mobility to be able to reach new areas of the map. From dash boots to a witch’s sword, these add a slight tactical approach to the game, as certain spells will be more effective depending on who you are fighting or where you are exploring.
And I need to give some time to the exploration in Scrabdackle, as it’s some of the most intricate I’ve experienced in a game. I had to really pay attention to the layout of the land to work out the best route many times, as they usually involved small, well-hidden passages. It could also be multilayered; thin ramps scatter the environment that will take you up and down the terrain in order to get you to your goal, and in some instances access to a particular section would start two or three screens away. It turned into its own little puzzle, and I was there for it.
Scrabdackle is a visually gorgeous game. All hand-drawn, Jakefriend has created a world that’s fresh and unique. Everything oozes quality with charming character models that are pleasing to the eye and each location carrying its own theme that pops in the game’s visuals. The Ducklands was a personal highlight, with its lush green fields, forests, rivers and castle. It was the game’s version of Hyrule, and it was splendid. I especially enjoyed the enemies within this location, with soldier ducks attacking you with spears and gardener ducks trying to hurt you with water from a watering can, plus it holds a boss fight against the royal flamingo king. What more can you ask for?
Speaking of the combat, there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into, and it can get pretty challenging. Standard enemies are manageable, but it’s the boss fights where things can get pretty hairy. I wasn’t expecting this, mostly thanks to the cartoony visuals, and there came a point where I had to decrease the difficulty – which thankfully you can do at any point – just so I could get through some of the fights. Unfortunately, the game will throw minions at you during some boss fights too, and it uses other obstacles or terrain dangers to hamper your attacks while the boss itself is chucking its own projectiles at you. Thankfully, with the mentioned difficulty levels, the lowest of these gives you invulnerability, opening the game up to people like me who want to enjoy the exploration and narrative side of the game more than the combat.
One other main mechanic of the game is its twin-stick movement. Yes, you’ll be using that right stick to aim your weapons and to move an on-screen cursor to interact with the world in general. It all worked extremely well, never felt obtrusive to the gameplay and added some functionality to the game I didn’t know I needed. Weapon and item selection was also fluid with a well-working wheel where you can choose which spell you’re after very conveniently. My only gripe is you have to press a button to confirm your selection, and where I am used to this type of mechanic selecting the highlighted tool automatically, I was constantly returning to the wheel as I had kept forgetting to press the button. It’s a really small quibble, but it was still slightly frustrating.
One area that wasn’t frustrating is in the game’s writing. I can often skim or ignore some conversations in games but not here. Jakefriend has a way with words, and I found the script of Scrabdackle to be some of the most interesting I’ve come across. Witty, funny, and sarcastic, there’s a zip to the dialogue that I really appreciated. The conversations flowed naturally, and it felt like I was overhearing private chats sometimes. In another twist to the conventions, you can also just leave a conversation at any point. You’re not locked in until the text scroll is complete; just walk away mid-conversation, and you can get on with your quest.
The thing that really wraps up this package beautifully is the sound design and score. So many cool sound effects are scattered around the game, and not just the usual ones, but ones that are just as unique as the game itself, which fit so nicely into the overall vibe. The score stopped me in my tracks a few times, just to listen to it. It just again pumps a lot of fun into the game with catchy, energetic pieces that slot in perfectly with its connecting section of the game. I can’t wait to grab this on Bandcamp, which says it all.
I’m in a rare situation with Scrabdackle where I struggle to find any fair criticism. Sure, I came up with a bug, but it wasn’t game-changing. I can see some people struggling with the intricate exploration and the bare hand holding the game gives. Combat is a nonplus with the difficulty levels included, so yeah, a few little quibbles across Act 1, but apart from that it was a strong and positive experience.
